
Class _fcL3±i 
Book 



Copyright N° 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 




TOM LOFTIN JOHNSON 



TOM L. JOHNSON 



MAYOR OF CLEVELAND 



BY 



CARL LORENZ 




NEW YORK 

THE A. S. BARNES COMPANY 

1911 






<i* 



$ 



Copyright, 1911, By 
THE A. S. BARNES COMPANY 



©a'A292622 



INTRODUCTORY 

THE life of Tom L. Johnson contains the 
elements of an ancient Greek tragedy. 
It is intensely human, a great psychological 
drama. Its outward activities belong to our 
days and to the future, its inner workings 
were those of a multiplex nature difficult to 
comprehend, and misunderstood by most of 
us. He was never vanquished by his ene- 
mies, but fell a victim to himself. 

Partisan hatred and partisan friendship 
obscured not only the real man, but also his 
aims and his work. As a politician he made 
of his enemies a pack of wolves, of his friends 
a herd of sheep. He himself was a good 
hater and a good friend. His methods stag- 
gered the class of men among which he was 
counted, but to which he never belonged, and 
delighted the common people, of whom he 
was one in his democratic way. Yet, he was 

iii 



iv INTRODUCTION 

not without aloofness. He bubbled over with 
a selfish joy of living, and of fighting for the 
betterment of political and social conditions. 
Standing with both feet in the present, the 
past had little meaning for him. His pene- 
tration into the future was marvellous. Fear 
of men he knew not, and he was at home at 
the house of the great as well as in the hut 
of the humblest. His courage of his con- 
victions was above suspicion, but not so his 
love for veracity. Truth, half-truth and un- 
truth were sometimes matters of expediency 
with him, as with most politicians, and even 
with statesmen. Yet he was very quick to 
resent a doubt in his word, which rather 
proves the assertion. He took a delight in 
domination over men, and it was an hon- 
est delight, well founded upon his superior 
intellect and his great will power. There 
was something of the daring speculator in 
him and of the gambler who can lose a stake 
with a smile. 

He entered public life after having made a 
large fortune! with the firm resolution to 



INTEODUCTION v 

devote the rest of his days to the welfare 
of the people. Full of new ideas, he soon 
met with the active and passive opposition of 
the men who were satisfied with the existing 
order of things. His great political battles, 
his dogged fight against the street railway 
monopoly, his attacks upon privileged classes 
of all kinds, his exertions in behalf of mu- 
nicipal reforms, his utter disregard of con- 
ventionalities, made him a most picturesque 
figure in public affairs. 

Ten years ago he announced the pro- 
gramme of our politicians of to-day and was 
derided as a Socialist. His keen foresight 
perceived the possibilities of an awakening 
of the people to a new era of sociological 
activity. Salvation he believed must come 
from the cities and their people. Nothing 
could be expected from the rich. He knew 
the "system" from personal experience and 
attacked it. The ballot box was his weapon. 
His brilliant mind was capable of grasping 
any question, yet time proved that he lacked 
the qualities of the really strong to achieve 



vi INTRODUCTION 

great success. He lost himself in an eddy: 
and was swallowed, his heart's work unfin- 
ished, almost undone. Here was an example 
of the self-made man falling short of achieve- 
ment of the results of his opportunities. 

At the height of his career he was men- 
tioned as a presidential possibility, and there 
is little doubt that he cherished the same 
hopes as his friends. He was never lacking 
in self-confidence. At that time the specu- 
lator awakened in him. He became a politi- 
cal plunger — and lost. The incident, after 
all, was of minor importance, measured by 
his life-work and the aims of his programme. 
If the latter were dictated by political am- 
bition, personal failure was inevitable, but 
the result of the work remains — and cannot 
be brushed aside. 

Pathetic in the extreme was his final de- 
feat, his family misfortunes, his sickness, and 
his heroic fight with incurable disease. "I 
do not like to be an ex," he said, when 
obliged to step down and out, and the words 
were characteristic of the whole man. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTEB 

Introductory . . . 






L»- l< 


1. 






PAGE 

iii 


I The Time of Youth 














1 


II In Politics . . . 


t . 




, M i. 


1 t 






11 


Ill In the Mayor's Chair 














21 


IV Mayor Johnson . .. 














35 


V The Helpers . . 














51 


VI Two Radicals . . 














67 


VII The Politician . . 














82 


VIII The Man .... 














125 


IX A Great Struggle . 














139 


X A Pyrrhic Victory 














166 


XI Conclusion . . . 




i 










185 



TOM L. JOHNSON 



TOM L. JOHNSON 

i 

THE TIME OF YOUTH 

rpOM LOFTIN JOHNSON, to give his 
-*- full name, was born on July 18, 1854, 
at Blue Spring, Kentucky. He was a de- 
scendant of a distinguished Southern family. 
A few years after the birth of the boy, his 
father, Albert W. Johnson, established him- 
self as a cotton planter in Arkansas. Dur- 
ing the Civil War he served as a colonel in 
the Confederate army. His wife, with her 
three boys, Tom L., "William L., and Albert 
L., followed his war fortunes, and when peace 
was declared they found themselves stranded 
at Staunton, Va. The war had devoured 
their plantation and all their other worldly 

possessions. Little Tom L., at that time 

l 



2 TOM L. JOHNSON 

eleven years old, became the mainstay of his 
parents and brothers. Being befriended by 
a railway conductor he managed to obtain 
from him a monopoly on selling newspapers. 
No one but Tom was allowed by the man to 
carry papers on his train to Staunton. As 
there was a great demand for them, the boy 
had his own way in charging high prices, 
and he improved upon his opportunity. In 
a little over a month he was able to give his 
father $88.00 in silver money. Col. John- 
son was thereby enabled to take his family 
to Louisville, Ky., where friends enabled him 
to return to his plantation. Another failure 
must be recorded, followed by still more 
financial troubles and wanderings of the fam- 
ily from one place to another. 

Of this period of Tom L. Johnson's life 
we have a record written by Mr. Louis F. 
Post, an editor, who was an intimate friend 
of his and possessed of his confidence. Mr. 
Post wrote among other things: 

"Col. Johnson was extremely poor at 
this time. His family was deprived not only 



THE TIME OF YOUTH 3 

of comforts, but of necessaries. They were 
so poor that when Mrs. Johnson determined 
to look for employment for Tom with a rela- 
tive in Louisville, she was obliged to wait 
for a cold day to give her an excuse for wear- 
ing the crocheted hood of her more comfort- 
able days. The intervening time had been 
utilised in providing for the education of the 
children. At Evansville, Indiana, Tom at- 
tended school for the first time. He received 
one full year's schooling there, and a few 
months' more while he lived upon his Uncle 
Jillson's farm. At Evansville he went 
through three grades, and what with this and 
the instruction he had received from his 
mother, he was about ready to enter high 
school when the family moved back to Ken- 
tucky. But his mother continued to tutor 
him, and in this she was assisted by his 
father, who, like his father before him, was 
skilful in mathematics and fond of astron- 
omy. Tom cared nothing for literary studies. 
He was strongly inclined to neglect them 
altogether. But mathematics became easy to 



4 TOM L. JOHNSON 

him. Like both his grandfather and his 
father, his mind seemed to work almost in- 
stinctively in mathematical processes. In 
very great measure his power and his success 
are attributable to this aptitude, which he 
possesses in an exceptional degree.' ' 

It must not be surmised that the extreme 
poverty of the family dampened the ardor of 
little Tom, who was a lively boy and very 
apt to look at the bright side of things. Mr. 
Johnson in later days took pleasure in tell- 
ing a little incident of his childhood days: 
He and one of his cousins played one day 
with a Noah's ark, when someone came into 
the room and accidentally knocked nearly all 
the animals over. The other child began to 
cry, but little Tom said, "Look here, some 
of them are still standing. ' ' 

" Somehow or other," Mayor Tom added 
to this story, "I never felt like giving up a 
\ thing if there was a shadow of a chance to 
begin all over again. ' ' 

In February, 1869, the boy began to work 
in a rolling mill in Louisville, where he re- 



THE TIME OF YOUTH 5 

mained for four months. At the end of this 
time Biederman du Pont, a connection of the 
Johnsons by marriage, offered Tom a place 
in his street railway office in Louisville, Ky., 
and the offer was accepted. Thus Tom L. 
Johnson, in later years famous as a street 
railway magnate, entered upon the career in 
which he made a great fortune. 

It was a small road, Tom was a small boy, 
only fifteen years old, but it did not take him 
long to learn. Toward the end of the year 
he was secretary of the company. He be- 
came also an inventor and constructed a 
new fare box, which was an improvement 
upon those in use. This invention netted 
him about $30,000 and made it possible for 
him to buy a street railway of his own in 
Indianapolis. He had also a good friend in 
Mr. Biederman du Pont, who advanced him 
a large sum of money in addition to his own 
resources. Tom made his father president 
of the road, which he improved and made 
profitable, and ran it until he came to Cleve- 
land in 1880, with a half million dollars in 



G TOM L. JOHNSON 

his pocket, and still a greater sum of business 
experience and street railway knowledge in 
his head. 

He had sold out his interest in the Indi- 
anapolis venture, because his friends and as- 
sociates had lacked the courage to replace 
the mules then in use to move the cars by 
electricity. Not wishing to antagonise 
them he had looked for another field of 
activity. 

Under the light of to-day there is no doubt 
that this move of his was not only best from 
a financial standpoint, but it 'developed in him 
all his great energy and intellectual faculties. 
Cleveland became in the course of time the 
battlefield of his life and finally his Waterloo. 

From the very beginning of his career 
in Cleveland he encountered endless strife. 
At the time of his arrival he had to meet the 
antagonism of the roads already estab- 
lished. He was the man equal to the task, 
young, vigorous, full of experience and ex- 
pediency. His opponents, of whom the late 
Senator Marcus A. Hanna was the most re- 



THE TIME OF YOUTH 7 

doubtable one, had as little rest as Johnson. 
Mr. Johnson gave his opponents no peace. 
The chamber of the City Council and the 
court rooms were the sites of their contests. 
Hanna and his associates were bitterly op- 
posed to Mr. Johnson's innovation of through 
lines and transfers. They preferred to take 
a second fare from a passenger who was 
obliged to use two different lines. The new 
man was successful in his enterprise, though 
Hanna bought a controlling interest in the 
company upon which Johnson directed his 
main attack. He fought their privileges, 
without being adverse to secure some for 
himself. Hanna, too, was a force like John- 
son, but slower in his movements. He made 
a peace offer before going on the warpath, 
but the pipe of peace was declined. Tom L. 
Johnson had an advantage over his adver- 
sary, as he was on the more populous East 
Side of the river and could therefore de- 
velop his road under better conditions than 
Hanna, whose interests were in West Side 
lines. Johnson also succeeded in uniting 



8 TOM L. JOHNSON 

some of the other companies, forming the 
Cleveland Electric Eailway Company, popu- 
larly known as the "Big Consolidated.' y He 
was now in control of some of the best lines 
in the city. Hanna, on his side, bought the 
cable lines, forming the Cleveland City Bail- 
way Company, then dubbed the "Little Con- 
solidated.' ' 

The result of the long fight was advan- 
tageous to the people, as it ended in a ma- 
terial reduction of fares, Johnson justly 
figuring that this would induce people to 
make a more frequent use of the cars, and 
increase the income of his road. The other 
side never could comprehend these mathe- 
matics, but was forced to yield. 

Peace between the two companies was not 
a genuine one, and as other interests claimed 
Mr. Johnson by this time, he finally sold his 
holdings in the Cleveland Electric Bailway 
Company and left town. Some years later 
Hanna united his company with the "Big 
Consolidated," against which Johnson, later 



THE TIME OF YOUTH 9 

on, having become Mayor of Cleveland, waged 
a war of unheard-of bitterness. 

At the time Johnson retired from his Cleve- 
land railway he had with his brother Albert 
acquired an interest in the Detroit street car 
system and also in that of Brooklyn, N. Y. 
He was soon engaged in the same kind of 
warfare as in Cleveland, but still found time 
to start large steel plants in Johnstown, Pa., 
and in Lorain, Ohio, and to make useful in- 
ventions in connection with the production of 
steel rails. His capacity for work knew no 
limits. In 1898, however, he withdrew more 
or less from the street car business, and soon 
afterward from the steel plants also. 
Things of another nature had taken posses- 
sion of his mind and occupied part of his 
time. 

His success as a business man was remark- 
able. From a boy on he showed a faculty 
for making money and was daring in his en- 
terprises. Difficulties spurred him on to 
stronger action. He liked to measure his 



10 TOM L. JOHNSON 

strength with worthy adversaries, and de- 
lighted in debates with his business associ- 
ates at the directors ' table. Yet, strange as 
it may seem, this vivacious, smiling and well- 
liked street railroad magnate incurred the 
distrust of many of his friends in the busi- 
ness world. He had such a way of "putting 
things" that his word was not considered as 
good as his signature. This fact is signifi- 
cant and often, later on, influenced his public 
career. 



II 

IN POLITICS 

THAT a man of Tom L. Johnson's char- 
acteristics should take an interest in 
public affairs is but natural. His eyes were 
wide open. He was dealing with public cor- 
porations and public men. His enemies ac- 
cused him of having bought city councils, in 
times when such proceedings were the rule 
and not the exception, and credited him with 
great cleverness. It must be said that he 
denied the truth of these accusations with em- 
phasis, and that his later career was an 
antithesis to such assertions. He was past 
thirty years of age when he began to give 
attention to political problems, and entered 
into them with the fervency of his nature. 

The story as to how he became interested 
in the subject was told by himself. He had 

been engaged in amassing a fortune, in mak- 

11 



12 TOM L'. JOHNSON 

ing money — in short, in " doing the other fel- 
low. ' ' He had ' ' had no use for politics, ' ' and 
had paid no attention to them. But on a day 
about the year 1885, when he was travelling 
between Cleveland and Indianapolis, a train 
boy offered him a boo*k entitled " Social Prob- 
lems." Johnson supposed the book to be a 
work on the social evil and refused to buy it. 
The conductor, who heard his refusal, hap- 
pened to know the book as the second work 
of Henry George, the first being "Progress 
and Poverty." He told Mr. Johnson that he 
labored under a misapprehension and that 
the book would, no doubt, interest him. 
Finally Johnson bought it with some reluc- 
tance, for cash in those days was not plenti- 
ful with him. He was often obliged to scheme 
in order to procure a cheap railroad ticket. 
Eeading the book, he was completely captured 
by it and bought also "Progress and Pov- 
erty." 

The contents of these works were a reve- 
lation to him. He felt like Joshua marching 
into a new land, and seeing new things. 



IN POLITICS 13 

Heretofore he had devoted himself to his 
business only and had never been much of a 
reader. His attorney in Cleveland at that 
time was L. A. Eussell, an outspoken, fear- 
less and eccentric man, but withal a thinker. 
"With him Mr. Johnson debated over the the- 
ories of Henry George. The lawyer recog- 
nised the masterly arguments of Mr. George, 
but objected to the premises. Johnson con- 
vinced him that they were sound and con- 
verted him to his views and to those of the 
author of the books. 

The next step Mr. Johnson undertook was 
to make the personal acquaintance of Henry 
George, and a warm friendship sprang up 
between the two men. In the year 1886 
Johnson had gone to New York, where, with 
a small number of other gentlemen, he became 
one of the promoters of the single tax move- 
ment. 

He was promptly swallowed up in the po- 
litical turmoil of the Gotham of those days. 
His friend Henry George became the leader 
of a labor movement against Tammany Hall 



14 TOM L. JOHNSON 

and Abram Hewitt. Johnson contributed to 
the campaign fund and repeated the contri- 
bution a year later, when Henry George be- 
came the candidate for Secretary of State 
of the United Labor party. In this cam- 
paign Mr. Johnson took a more active part 
and began to acquire a taste for politics. His 
friend advised him to enter public life, to 
further the single tax movement. Johnson 
was willing and made his maiden speech in 
Cooper Union, New York, at the beginning 
of the year 1888. 

It was thought advisable by Henry George 
that Tom L. Johnson enter Congress as a 
free trader of the Cobden pattern, and Tom 
L. Johnson returned to Cleveland, and be- 
came the Democratic candidate in a very 
strongly Republican district, the 21st of Ohio. 
He was defeated, but not discouraged, for 
two years later he again entered the same 
arena. 

His Eepublican adversary was again Theo- 
dore E. Burton, now United States Senator 
from Ohio. Burton challenged him to a de- 



IN POLITICS 15 

bate, to his consternation, for Johnson at that 
time had but little experience in the art of 
speaking, while Bnrton was recognised as a 
master of the word. Johnson, nevertheless, 
accepted promptly on condition that the de- 
baters take turn in arguments of ten minutes 
each, until the hour for closing. ( David slew 
Goliath, who consumed his ten minutes in 
preambles and never got to the meat of the 
pot. 

Tom Johnson was elected to Congress by a 
majority of 3,000 votes. As a legislator he 
developed his greatest activity, worked for 
single tax legislation, tax reform and other 
things, new to the minds of those days. His 
success was small in a way, but his agitation 
was educating public opinion. In the year 
1892 Mr. Johnson was re-elected and suc- 
ceeded during his second term in causing 
Henry George's work on "Protection or Free 
Trade" to be printed in the Congressional 
record. In this manner over a million copies 
of the book were distributed throughout the 
land at public expense. He expected a 



16 TOM L'. JOHNSON 

tariff revision, and was greatly disappointed 
when President Cleveland deferred consid- 
eration of the question. 

On August 13, 1894, Mr. Johnson made his 
first great speech in Congress. It was 
against the Wilson tariff and full of aggres- 
siveness. He attacked the amendments made 
by the Senate and adjured the Lower House 
not to descend to the level of the Upper 
House. In another speech on the same floor 
he spoke with the same directness for a flex- 
ible currency bill of his own and against a 
national bank bill. It was his last speech of 
any magnitude in Congress, for in the fol- 
lowing election the people repudiated the 
Democrats, and Johnson was defeated by 
Burton. 

From now on until Mr. Johnson became 
Mayor of Cleveland his energies were de- 
voted to propagating the teachings of Henry 
George, to his street railway fight in Detroit, 
and his private affairs. He also took part 
in the mayoralty campaign of New York in 



IN POLITICS 17 

the year 1897, when his friend Henry George 
was a conspicuous candidate for mayor. 

The unexpected death of Henry George, 
shortly before election, put an end to his po- 
litical activity in New York. In 1899, having 
made the acquaintance of Governor Pingree 
of Michigan on the strength of his public 
utilities teachings, he went to Detroit. In 
conjunction with the Governor he began a 
street railway campaign, with the intention 
of bringing the street car system under pub- 
lic ownership, to reduce the fare, or make a 
free railway, taxing the adjacent land values 
for the expenses. 

The necessary legislation for the purchase 
of the railroad by the City of Detroit was 
passed, and the bill was signed by the Gov- 
ernor. The city employed Professor Ed- 
ward W. Bemis of Chicago, who had been 
forced out of the faculty of the University 
of Chicago, on account of his (more or less) 
socialistic tendencies. The Professor was 
employed to ascertain the value of the road. 



18 TOM L. JOHNSON 

Prospects for the plan were promising, but 
took a different turn when the Supreme Court 
of Michigan declared the municipal owner- 
ship law to be unconstitutional. The large 
business interests had acted. Johnson and 
his friend, the Governor, then resorted to the 
expedient of securing an ordinance from the 
city council of Detroit, by which a holding 
company was to run the railroad for the city. 
Governor Pingree was placed at the head 
of the company, which was to buy the 
system. Again the business men interfered, 
claiming that the purchase price of $16,000,- 
000 was exorbitant. Johnson was loudly 
accused of trying to bleed the city. The ne- 
gotiations were broken off, the Council fright- 
ened, and in this state of mind, reconsidered 
the ordinance and let it die. Once more Mr. 
Johnson found it expedient to sell out his in- 
terest in a street railway company. It was 
said that he lost nothing by the transaction. 
His fortune was estimated at from three to 
four million dollars at that time. 



IN POLITICS 19 

Mr. Johnson was now in the prime of life, 
full of vigor and health, and active of brain. 
His experience had been wide and varied, 
yet he had not seen much of the world. A 
hurried voyage to Europe, business trips to 
some parts of the United States, or a swift 
political expedition to this or that city, com- 
pleted his travelling experience. He had not 
the patience to study and observe foreign 
nations and their methods and thereby to 
broaden his knowledge and his mind. The 
desire to be doing something himself made 
him an inattentive observer, though he was 
very quick in perceiving. From a daring 
business man and occasional speculator in 
the stock market he had developed into a 
politician, preacher of new theories, and ad- 
vocate of the people's rights. 

He was ever ready to place his teachings 
in practice, to help the common people, to 
attack their enemies, and to march at the 
head of the army. 

He was a born leader ; he liked to rule and 



20 TOM L. JOHNSON 

to win, as his adversaries readily believed, 
in good faith. Such was the man when he 
became the "best mayor of the best governed 
city in the United States,' ' as his friend Lin- 
coln Steffens wrote in July, 1905. 



Ill 

IN THE MAYOR'S CHAIR 

UNTIL the year 1895 the affairs of the 
rapidly-growing City of Cleveland were 
administered by honorable gentlemen and 
citizens, who had much dignity, but little en- 
ergy and push. In the office of the Mayor 
stood a beautifully-carved walnut buffet with 
a decanter and a box of cigars. Visitors 
were welcome and humored by a drink, a 
smoke or a funny story, or two. The Mayor 
was a representative officer and understood 
his functions. The City's business was 
transacted at board meetings and by the 
City Council, not to say by certain street 
railroad officials, who were the godfathers of 
"the boys." John and George were good 
fellows, avoided scandal and saw to it that 
contracts and franchises were of the proper 

kind and given into the right hands. Some- 

21 



22 TOM L. JOHNSON 

times the bidders who were "left," " raised 
a howl, ' ' but such is the nature of the bitten. 
Cleveland was no worse than other cities of 
the land and was more beautiful than most 
of them. The citizens themselves were satis- 
fied to let things go their way, after they had 
done their duty on election day by voting 
their respective party tickets. But it hap- 
pened one day during the administration of 
Mayor Eobert E. Blee, 1893-1895, that the 
Street Eailway Company desired a new fran- 
chise. Nothing was more natural for a street 
railway company, and Mayor and Council 
seemed willing to comply with the request. 

One of the Councilmen at that time was a 
young lawyer by the name of Eobert E. Mc- 
Kisson. He was a Eepublican and a fighter, 
ambitious and vigorous. " Curley-headed 
Bob" they used to call him. This youngster 
was possessed of the idea that opposition led 
to success. He therefore opposed all and 
everything, and as the administration was of 
the opposite party he made no mistake from 
a political standpoint. In April, 1895, he 



IN THE MAYOR'S CHAIR 23 

was elected Mayor in spite of John H. Far- 
ley, who managed the Blee campaign, and 
who was an old and tried politician, and had 
himself occupied the Mayor's chair in his 
younger days. 

With the advent of McKisson the old and 
slow methods were brushed aside. The vigor 
of youth was infused into the affairs of the 
city. The young Mayor wanted to do things. 
As long as he confined his energies to paving 
streets, building sewers or planning water 
tunnels he met with little opposition. Soon, 
however, he antagonised the steam railroads 
and the Street Railway Company, and also 
Mark Hanna. 

Politics had played a strange part in Mc- 
Kisson's election. The Mayor belonged to 
the Foraker faction and had refused the as- 
sistance of Hanna^ who had been for some 
time the "deus ex machina" of the Repub- 
lican party in Cleveland. McKisson's elec- 
tion had, therefore, been a blow to Hanna. 
Mr. Hanna remained silent as long as the 
young man did not interfere with his busi- 



24 TOM L. JOHNSON 

ness interests. A renewal of street railway 
franchises was asked for, and McKisson de- 
manded a reduction in fares. The war was 
on, but neither side gained much of an advan- 
tage. The quarrel was carried into the Leg- 
islature. 

In the meantime another municipal elec- 
tion approached. The old Hanna guard 
made an effort, but the younger element won 
the day, and McKisson was re-elected. Dur- 
ing his second term the Mayor lost himself 
more and more in the political turmoil, and 
was promptly charged with levying political 
assessments not strictly in accordance with 
custom. 

Mark Hanna, the maker of a President, 
wished to become United States Senator, and 
McKisson had the temerity to oppose him. 
The history of that campaign is known. 
Hanna won by one vote. McKisson returned 
to Cleveland, resolved to seek a third term 
as Mayor of Cleveland. But now Senator 
Hanna had developed a personal grudge 



IN THE MAYOE'S CHAIR 25 

against McKisson, and directed all his bat- 
teries against his political enemy. 

There could be but one result, the defeat 
of the Mayor. The bitterest pang for Mc- 
Kisson in this defeat was that John H. Far- 
ley became his successor, the man whom he 
had attacked in and out of season, while he 
was a member of the City Council. Farley, 
although a Democrat, had the assistance of 
Mark Hanna. He was a strong man, rugged, 
self-reliant, fearless and defying. A Demo- 
crat of the old school, he reached into the 
new and fleeting time. He was not in sym- 
pathy with the ultra modern views upon city 
governments. His slogan was economy, and 
they accused him of trying to "save the city 
from progress.' ' During his term the street 
railway question came up again. He wished 
it settled upon the same basis as of old. 
The people cried " treason,' ' and an early 
day form of insurgency arose like an angry 
sea. The Mayor stood his ground, a fearless 
fighter, resolved not to yield, and depending 



26 TOM L. JOHNSON 

upon what he termed the " horse sense of the 
community. ' ' 

It was a delusion. The people were not 
with him. They wanted a new solution to 
an old problem. Most painful was the spec- 
tacle that presented itself in the City Hall. 
The politicians around the Mayor, men whose 
career he had made, forsook him like rats 
leaving a sinking ship. Even his directors 
could be seen stealing into the camp of his 
enemies. John H. Farley stood alone, read- 
ing the handwriting on the wall. Nothing 
more was to be done, not even the risking of a 
second campaign. With his private secre- 
tary, W. C. Sage, he stepped down and out. 
A few weeks later he went to his northern 
island in Georgian Bay, where he soon forgot 
the vicissitudes of political strife. 

His successor was Tom L. Johnson. Dur- 
ing the winter of 1900-1901 the political 
situation in Cleveland had taken an aspect 
that was alluring to Mr. Johnson. Farley 
had taken an untenable position on the street 
railway question and was surrounded by men 



IN THE MAYOR'S CHAIR 27 

in whom he could not fully trust, and who 
had little personal liking for him. One of 
these men was Charles P. Salen, City Au- 
ditor on the strength of a political arrange- 
ment. 

Mr. Salen, though still a young man, had 
managed Tom L. Johnson's former cam- 
paigns and was a past grand master in that 
game of politics which never rises to states- 
manship. He kept his friend well posted on 
the state of affairs in Cleveland, and at the 
opportune moment the people were informed 
that the Democratic patriots were making 
great efforts to induce Mr. Johnson to come 
to the rescue of the City. Johnson, who had 
always maintained his right to vote in Cleve- 
land, was persuaded to become a candidate 
for Mayor. An unknown man of dark 
complexion paid his campaign assessment, 
out of admiration and friendship for Mr. 
Johnson. Such was the statement given to 
the newspapers. The name of this myste- 
rious personage was never revealed, but the 
story was told by one Joe Goldsoll, now de- 



28 TOM L. JOHNSON 

ceased. It was significant of the Johnson 
method. 

With the arrival of Mr. Johnson, the cam- 
paign became immediately highly interesting. 
His political enemies knew their man and 
did not underestimate his strength. They 
heaped insult after insult upon him, decried 
his sincerity, doubted his right to citizenship 
in Cleveland, referred to him as a charlatan 
and a humbug. 

He answered with the declaration that he 
had sold out his business interests, and that 
it was his avowed intention to devote the rest 
of his life to the welfare of the people and 
the promotion of honesty and purity in pub- 
lic affairs. 

He kept his promise in his own way. His 
was not the simple nature of " Golden Bule" 
Jones of Toledo. He was a man of the 
world, erring from selfishness, but well 
meaning. It was not his intention to forgive 
his enemies, but to subdue them. Whatever 
he did, he did not because of a greai" love for 
his fellow men, but because he was ambitious 



IN THE MAYOR'S CHAIR 29 

to stand above the common politician of the 
day. He aimed at great things and was sin- 
cere in his fight for the people. Yet, his 
animus might have been revenge, not love, 
or a moral longing for the right. 

The intensity with which he entered into 
the street railway controversy, and his 
tenacity of purpose in this " Seven Years 
War," were partly born of personal hatred. 
But all in all he was serving a noble pur- 
pose, conceived with enthusiasm, and an- 
nounced with a flourish of trumpets. 

It was but natural that many people dis- 
trusted his words, that they refused to see 
in him a modern Messiah. But only the poor 
in spirit failed to recognise his superiority. 
Among the intelligent men he had numbers 
of admirers, even among the rich who were 
his opponents from selfish reasons. The 
partisan asses need not be mentioned. 

At the time Tom L. Johnson made his 
second entry into Cleveland, the City Council 
was wrangling over a proffered renewal of 
the existing street railway franchises, which 



30 TOM L. JOHNSON 

were to expire several years later. There 
was danger of a new franchise being granted 
for twenty-five years under conditions un- 
favorable to the people. Johnson with char- 
acteristic impetuosity worked up a sentiment 
of opposition to the grant among the people. 
He even circulated anti-franchise petitions 
and paid his solicitors two cents a name. He 
was accused of bribing the voters. His an- 
swer to that accusation was that it is better 
to buy up the people than to sell the people's 
council. 

The Democratic primaries took place on 
the 19th of February, and Tom L. Johnson 
was nominated for Mayor. On April 1st he 
was elected by a plurality of 6,033 votes. 
His platform was considered a radical one, 
and he himself did not deny that he took an 
advanced stand in political matters, espe- 
cially in advocating the single tax. Home 
rule, local option on taxation, municipal own- 
ership as far as possible, a street car fare of 
no more than three cents, equalisation of 



IN THE MAYOK'S CHAIR 31 

taxes, and just appraisement were his other 
demands. 

Excepting for his single-tax theory there 
was really nothing radical in his declara- 
tion of principles, considered from the stand- 
point of the ordinary citizen. The politi- 
cians, of course, found much to denounce in 
them. They even opposed a reduction of 
car fares, arguing that poor service would 
be the result. John and George laughed in 
their sleeves, for they well knew that the 
service would always be as poor as possible, 
even at a fare of ten cents. It could not be 
worse than it was, at the lower fare. To- 
day, after nine years, it is just as good or as 
bad as it ever was, and we have had both high 
and low fares. Nobody can object to home 
rule or just taxation, even if municipal own- 
ership has its censors. 

The main argument put forth against mu- 
nicipal ownership was an expression of fear 
that it might create an invincible political 
machine. There never was a politician 



32 TOM L. JOHNSON 

stronger than the people, the great destroyers 
of politicians, political machines, kingdoms 
and empires. Tom L. Johnson himself was 
a living example of this. According to his 
enemies he had the strongest political ma- 
chine ever seen in Cleveland. Yet the peo- 
ple got rid of him as soon as they became 
tired of him. 

Of greater importance than his demand for 
municipal ownership was his tax reform 
plank. With this he struck a vital spot of 
many of the good and law-abiding citizens, 
namely, their money bag. 

Theories of socialism and anarchism were 
heard. Yet, Tom L. Johnson demanded but 
just taxation. In this connection the John- 
son method furnished a rather incongruous 
example. Johnson himself was accused of 
not paying his just share of taxes, and took 
the matter into court. After a litigation 
lasting several years the case was settled by 
compromise. He defended his private inter- 
ests against his own preaching with as much 
vigor as did Mark Hanna. He horrified the 



IN THE MAYOE'S CHAIR 33 

teachers of morals by his declaration that he 
would make money out of monopolies as long 
as the law tolerated monopolies, though he 
was against them. The elasticity of his con- 
science was as remarkable as was his pur- 
pose to stand up for the rights of the people. 

The declaration that he would make money 
from monopolies was first made by him as 
a candidate for Congress, but he repeated it 
in his campaign speeches on different occa- 
sions. There is no doubt that he was sin- 
cere in his attacks on the monopolistic prin- 
ciple. Far seeing as he was, he could 
perceive the danger for the future of the 
nation, if monopolies were to obtain control 
of the states' and the national government. 
He abhorred revolutions, had not the least 
use for the military power, and was a firm 
believer in the power of the ballot. Reforms, 
he believed, must be wrought through the 
ballot and not through the ax. 

History would not, he said, repeat itself, 
since the world's progress in the last one 
hundred years had created conditions en- 



34 TOM L. JOHNSON 

tirely different from those existing before the 
great modern inventions. Besides, there 
never was any country like the United States 
with universal suffrage as a safety valve. 

He was an optimist in all things, and would 
hardly ask the question whether or not the 
human animal would change its nature. He 
believed in men, because he liked to be among 
them and needed them for his plans. Soli- 
tude had no attraction for him. His elec- 
tion to the office of Mayor of Cleveland was 
highly gratifying to him. He saw great pos- 
sibilities in his future work, for which he had 
the necessary business and political training, 
and an abundance of intelligence, energy and 
good will. 



IV 
MAYOR JOHNSON 

ON the morning of the 4th of April, 1901, 
Tom E. Johnson took the Mayor's of- 
fice by storm. He actually burst into the 
room. Mayor Farley, seated at his desk, 
looked up and beheld his successor. A cloud 
darkened his face as he arose. His greeting 
was chilly, but Mr. Johnson took no notice 
of this. He announced that he had qualified 
for the office of Mayor, and was ready to 
take up his duties. "But there is no hurry, 
Mr. Farley,' ' he said. The ex-mayor did 
not tarry long, for he hated the new man, 
with whom he had nothing in common, even 
in politics, though both were Democrats. 

There was special reason for the haste 
with which Mr. Johnson assumed his new 
work. He had some days before procured 
an injunction against Mayor Farley who was 

35 



36 TOM E. JOHNSON 

on the point of signing an ordinance turning 
over the rights of the city to lake front land 
to the steam railroads. The injunction ex- 
pired at 11 o'clock a.m. Half an hour be- 
fore that time Johnson became Mayor, and 
the ordinance was never signed. The lake 
front leases are still in the courts. 

Mayor Johnson, happy as a lark, had a 
well-conceived plan for the development and 
aggrandisement of the City of Cleveland. 
Streets were to be paved, and sewers built 
as fast as possible. The new water-works 
tunnel, begun under McKisson's adminis- 
tration was to be finished; grade crossings 
were to be abolished ; new bridges across the 
Cuyahoga Eiver, a new City Hall, a new 
Market House for the West Side of the city 
were included in the plan. There were many 
other things to be done. Mayor Johnson in- 
sisted upon clean and well-lighted streets, 
that the great park system be opened for use 
of the people, public bath houses, first-class 
fire and police protection, new hospitals and 
better conditions for the poor and for the 



MAYOR JOHNSON 37' 

prisoners in the city institutions. He par- 
ticularly demanded cheaper street railway 
fare. 

In order to secure these improvements two 
elements were required — honest and efficient 
officials, and money. Mayor Johnson, who 
had the appointing power under the then ex- 
isting federal plan of city government, chose 
for his department chiefs men of unusual 
ability, of integrity and untiring devotion to 
duty. The people had elected with him a 
Council of his own choice, or nearly so. At 
all events he had a working majority and 
could execute his plans as far as the Council 
was concerned. 

The money question offered more diffi- 
culties, but Johnson had the experience of a 
business man and was, besides, a man of re- 
sourcefulness. He was an expert in taxa- 
tion matters, having studied them under 
Henry George. There was plenty of money 
in Cleveland which could be made available, 
if he could get at the tax dodgers. 

Being a thorough-going man he began at 



38 TOM L. JOHNSON 

the root of the evil, the iniquitous appraise- 
ment of all taxable property. The famous tax 
school under Peter "Witt, of whom we shall 
learn more later on, was established. Peter 
and a number of clerks made large maps of 
the city, showing all properties and their real 
values. The result of this work was a howl 
from the rich and a grunt of satisfaction 
from the small property owners. Peter was 
reckless enough to proclaim with a loud voice 
that the great burden of taxation fell upon 
the poor. Of course, this was nothing new, 
but Peter had the figures in all instances. 
Mayor Johnson was denounced for spending 
the people's money in illegal enterprises. 
He answered that he would pay the expenses 
of the tax school out of his private purse. 
Thereupon the tax school was killed by de- 
cree of court, but the judge was kind enough 
not to condemn the Mayor to the payment 
of said expenses, and Mr. Johnson did not 
reach into his own pocket. The tax school 
had cost the people something like $30,000. 
It was a small matter, after all, for the much 



MAYOK JOHNSON 39 

attacked school led nine years later to new 
and better taxation laws. It also led to a 
fierce struggle between the Mayor on one side 
and the County Auditors, the Legislature 
and the great corporations on the other side. 

Undaunted,\ Mr. Johnson sought to prevail 
upon the County Auditors to assess the rail- 
roads at the same rate as that at which other' 
private property was being appraised. The 
Auditors refused to listen to him or even to 
receive his figures, which had been worked 
out with great diligence by Professor E. W. 
Bemis. The sessions with the Auditors were 
stormy, and Mr. Johnson did not mince his 
words in argument. His effort was of no 
avail. 

Apparently more successful were his 
efforts to secure a just appraisement of the 
property of the public service corporations. 
In filling the vacancies in the annual City 
Board of Equalisation he appointed four new 
men in sympathy with his policy. The board 
added to the duplicate nearly twenty million 
dollars, by raising the valuation of the prop- 



40 TOM L. JOHNSON 

erty of the street railroads, gas and elec- 
tric light companies. The higher assess- 
ment went upon the tax duplicate, but the 
companies never paid, for they succeeded 
in Columbus in causing the new valuation to 
be stricken out. The city having expected 
an increased income through this source, 
faced a greatly reduced revenue. 

Mayor Johnson saw quickly that he had to 
carry his fight into the State and before the 
Legislature, a Eepublican body. His en- 
ergy, and enjoyment of strife were such that 
he promptly undertook an energetic cam- 
paign. Though victorious in electing a 
Democratic delegation from Cuyahoga 
County, he found himself confronted by an 
immovable body of Eepublican politicians at 
the State capitol. 

He was frequently accused of neglecting 
the affairs of the city, and devoting his time 
to politics. The small minds could not un- 
derstand the big aims of the man. He had 
tumbled into a Herculean task and used gi- 
gantic energies to accomplish it. There was 



MAYOR JOHNSON 41 

really something heroic in his efforts to 
overcome the obstacles which were thrown 
in his way. As Mayor of Cleveland it was 
incumbent npon him to seek ways and means 
which would enable him to meet the demands 
of a new era in municipal life. It was his 
right and duty to go before the Legislature 
and ask for such laws as he thought would 
be necessary. The affairs at home were in 
good hands. 

There can be no question that Cleveland 
to-day would be the most advanced city in 
the land, if he had had a free hand. He 
would have spent millions upon millions for 
her development in all directions. The 
money was to come from an equal taxation, 
and the city being rich, there would have 
been plenty of it. He had the people on his 
side, but not the rich and the powerful. His 
great scheme fell through in spite of his 
mighty efforts. The courts and the Legisla- 
ture were invoked by his enemies, and the 
contests were bitter ones. 

Johnson's endurance and power for work 



42 TOM L. JOHNSON 

seemed without limitation. While he became 
engaged in his great struggle, he still found 
time for the details of his home work. New 
life entered the City Hall. Things had to be 
done quickly, for patience he had but little. 
Yet he was no scold. His knowledge of mu- 
nicipal matters was astonishing. There was 
no hesitancy on his part in deciding a ques- 
tion, be it of a financial, political or technical 
nature. He was naturally a mathematician, 
a builder, an engineer and a mechanic. Long 
explanations were cut short, for he would 
see the merits of a case in an instant, and 
seldom made a mistake. His solutions took 
account of the future, farsightedness being 
one of his great gifts. 

Those who accused him of negligence in 
his municipal duties knew little of his 
methods. 

"I am responsible and want to be respon- 
sible for my administration," he used to say, 
"and therefore I must be informed on what 
is going on." And he was informed. His 
directors made no appointments without his 



MAYOE JOHNSON 43 

sanction, nor did they introduce new meas- 
ures without his knowledge. He had a good 
memory and allowed nothing to escape him, 
even to the smallest details. It was a pleas- 
ure to watch him at his work, to hear him 
f tell a funny story, illustrating a case on 
hand. His smiling face and his familiar way 
of treating with people became well known. 
He, however, could say "no" more easily 
than most men, but he possessed the rare fac- 
ulty of not thereby offending the petitioner. 
He demanded unquestionable honesty of 
his officials and employes, and was without 
pity for an offender. During the first few 
months of his incumbency a newly-appointed 
officer was convicted of some dishonest trans- 
action. He called the man to his office, read 
him the riot act, discharged him on the spot, 
and almost threw him bodily out of doors. 
The newspapers were informed of the occur- 
rence, and the Mayor announced that swin- 
dlers were not to be protected. During al- 
most nine years of Mayor Johnson's adminis- 
tration, not a half dozen cases arose in 



44 TOM L. JOHNSON 

which occasion required that city employes 
be dealt with for dishonesty. This was cer- 
tainly a remarkable showing, and one of 
which the City of Cleveland may well be 
proud. No scandal could ever be attached 
to the Johnson administration. 

With the entry of Tom L. Johnson into 
the City Hall, Gentlemen George and John 
made their exit. One could see them for- 
merly at every meeting of the City Council. 
Now they became not only invisible, but also 
almost uninfluential. Of course, at elec- 
tion times, they would see to it that their 
men were elected from wards where the 
Mayor's friends were in the minority. In 
the Council, the other men were in the minor- 
ity, so they could do little harm and were 
carefully watched besides. The scenes under 
the former administration, when the people 
hunted certain Councilmen with ladder and 
rope for trying to sell them out to the Eailway 
Company, needed no repetition. The eye of 
the boss was watchful, and it was a sharp 
eye. 



MAYOR JOHNSON 45 

There is no denying that Johnson had ab- 
solute control of his Council from the begin- 
ning to the end. The working majority was 
with him with one short exception. On that 
occasion there were seated in the Council sev- 
enteen Republicans and fifteen Democrats, 
the president of the Council also being a 
Democrat. The leading Republican members 
were men of small calibre, and Johnson was 
able to outwit them on many occasions. One 
of the Republican councilmen died and it be- 
came the duty of the Council to elect a new 
man. Johnson succeeded in winning one of 
the Republican councilmen over, and in the 
place of the dead Republican a live Democrat 
was elected. "With the vote of the president, 
the working majority was restored, and the 
Mayor once more enabled to follow his 
course. 

There were also a few instances when some 
of the Democrats in the Council rebelled 
against his dictation. He either succeeded 
in reconciling them to his leadership or de- 
feated them at the polls. He preferred the 



46 TOM L. JOHNSON 

latter course, as he was always more or less 
distrustful of his converts. During his first 
three terms his orders were unquestioned, 
but later on, when the Street Railway fight 
had become tiresome, the Democrats would 
try to convert him to their views expressed 
in caucus. He was obliged to yield on cer- 
tain occasions. He was not intolerant of op- 
position, and found pleasure in combating 
opinions different from his own, so long as 
no important matters were to be decided. 
On more than one occasion he deemed it ex- 
pedient to take his opponents in the Council 
severely to task, and even to accuse them of 
dishonorable conduct. Of course, he had no 
direct proof, but his suspicion had been 
aroused and he took this means of uttering 
a warning. He cared but little whether he 
gave offence or not on these occasions. 

Mayor Johnson never objected to being 
called a boss, though he was most of the 
time, especially in later years, careful to hide 
his personality behind the Council, when 
measures of weight were to be considered. 



MAYOR JOHNSON 47 

"It all depends," be used to say, " whether 
a boss is a good or a bad boss. A bad politi- 
cal organisation is worse than a good po- 
litical machine. " 

His City Hall machine was working to per- 
fection, not only in a political way but also 
in the fulfilment of civic duties. The dif- li- 
ferent departments were well organised and 
demanded a full day's work of their men/~~\ 
Of course, there were some instances of un- 
faithfulness and laziness on the part of em- 
ployes. However, such men would never last 
long, and it made no difference that a given 
culprit were an active and valuable politi- 
cian, and with influential friends backing 
him. In such cases Mayor Johnson sus- 
tained his directors or went even farther than 
they did themselves. He wanted strict hon- 
esty and adherence to duty, nothing less 
would do. He would not allow himself to be 
moved by pity or political considerations. 
It was a strong trait of his character to stand 
by his officials when he thought them in the 
right. As an executive, he had no superior, 



48 TOM L. JOHNSON 

and the same may be said of him as an or- 
ganiser. 

/ It required but a short time for him to 
advance the City of Cleveland to one of the 
best and most honestly governed places in 
the country. He spent more money than any 
of the former mayors, and under his admin- 
istration the bonded indebtedness was stead- 
ily increased. The small politicians made a 
great noise about extravagance. Yet, at no 
time were they able to prove that the money 
was not spent well and honestly. Johnson 
as a man of large business experience, was 
wont to figure with dollars where they turned 
a penny over. Some of the people failed to 
understand him, because they were not used 
to seeing a big man occupying the Mayor's 
chair. It is an erroneous idea that Johnson 
had no friends and admirers among the busi- 
ness men of the town. Even in the Chamber 
of Commerce his friends could be found in 
goodly numbers. Many of them expressed 
no opinions, but on election day they cast 
their ballots for him. Some considered his 



MAYOR JOHNSON 49 

election and re-elections as a calamity for 
the City, yet they and Cleveland survived the 
shock splendidly. 

The Republican party nominated the best 
of their men against him, but they went down 
in defeat, even as strong a politician as Theo- 
dore E. Burton. The Johnson victories 
would have been impossible without the votes 
of the business men. They recognised his 
capability and saw that he gave the city an 
honest and progressive administration, such 
as it had never had before. He antagonised 
them in many ways, and was forgiven. His 
re-election in November, 1905, by a plurality 
of 12,169 votes was a great tribute to his 
popularity. The people of Cleveland re- 
warded his successful efforts in building up 
their city. Many streets had been paved 
since 1901, and many sewers built. The 
streets were clean and well lighted, the parks 
made accessible to the common people; the 
former "Keep off the Grass" signs had dis- 
appeared, and upon the very lawns picnics 
could be held. To the last Mayor Johnson 



50 TOM E. JOHNSON 

and his administration marched abreast with 
the times, assimilating and putting into prac- 
tice the most advanced theories on the gov- 
erning of a modern city. 

Those who were in a position to watch the 
daily life of the City Hall became impressed 
with its intensity of purpose, its manifold 
activities and its earnestness to master every 
new arising task. It was not to be wondered 
that Cleveland began to make a name for 
itself in this large land of ours. 



THE HELPEES 

NOT little of the praise and credit belong 
to the men who labored with Mayor 
Johnson in the advance of Cleveland. Wont 
to follow his own dictation, he selected as 
his assistants the men whom he thought ca- 
pable, disregarding party lines in many in- 
stances, and also disregarding the dissatis- 
faction of the patriots. It almost caused a 
rebellion when he appointed E. W. Bemis 
superintendent of the Water Works with in- 
structions to manage them regardless of pol- 
itics. Bemis obeyed, and soon was the most 
ridiculed and most hated man in the City 
Hall. He was innocent of business experi- 
ence, made errors like an absent-minded pro- 
fessor, but had a great understanding of 
figures, and did very well, after all. When 
the downfall of the Johnson administration 

51 



52 TOM E. JOHNSON 

caine, he received a splendid offer from the 
City of New York, and left Cleveland with 
"a smile for those who hate," to speak with 
Lord Byron. 

The Department of Public Works was dur- 
ing the first term of Mayor Johnson under 
the management of Chas. P. Salen, who 
proved capable. Mr. Salen, having been 
elected to a county office, was succeeded by 
W. J. Springborn, formerly a Eepublican 
member of the City Council. The choice 
proved to be excellent. Springborn was a 
young man, who had to work his way up in 
this world and was without much schooling. 
He, however, possessed something better than 
a mere book education. He was endowed 
with common sense, great industry, a fine 
memory and quick comprehension. There 
was nothing of the fanciful about him. He 
was more in favor of clean streets, good 
sewers and a good garbage plant than of 
beautiful buildings or parks. From early 
morning till late in the evening he worked in 
the interest of the city, looking after every- 



THE HELPERS 53 

thing, being everywhere. He was a per- 
fectly honest man and constantly striving to 
save money for the city. He knew the value 
of a penny. Thoroughly in accordance with 
Mayor Johnson and his views on municipal 
ownership, he built up a practical street- 
cleaning plant, a garbage plant, and an elec- 
tric lighting plant, all of which proved of 
great value. It was his greatest pride to be 
able to demonstrate the possibilities of mu- 
nicipally owned institutions. The people 
recognised his merits and applauded him vig- 
orously whenever he told them in his simple 
way what his department was doing for them. 
The Public Parks department under Di- 
rector Daniel E. Leslie followed the popu- 
larising policy, inaugurated by Chas. P. 
Salen, with great success. The large and 
beautiful park system (luckily started by a 
far-sighted commission that was violently 
criticised by the near-sighted) became within 
a short time a recreation ground for all the 
people. Much was done in establishing base- 
ball grounds, children's play grounds, in 



54 TOM L. JOHNSON 

erecting shelter houses and bath houses, and 
in providing free concerts, children's days 
in summer, and skating carnivals in winter. 
Little attention was given, however, to the 
zoological garden, a neglect much to be re- 
gretted. Neither the Mayor nor his Director 
were so philosophical as to become interested 
in animal life. 

Mayor Johnson placed "his preacher," 
Eev. Dr. Harris E. Cooley, in charge of the 
Department of Charities and Corrections. 
Some of the wiseacres sneered at this selec- 
tion, but within a short time, Mr. Cooley 
proved to be more than a preacher. He was 
a broad-minded man of action and one of not 
words alone, a great big bundle of human- 
ity, a true friend of the suffering and the 
downtrodden. His kindness was without 
bourn, his faith in the good of men unshak- 
able. Being an assiduous student of soci- 
ology, he knew the ailments of society and 
understood the lugubrious influences at work. 
He was not afraid to put the blame where it 
belonged. As far as it was in his power he 



THE HELPEES 55 

tried to alleviate the pains of soul and body. 
No one was too lowly for him to consider, 
none unworthy of being redeemed. He 
brought his head and his heart into his la- 
bor of love. 

The outcome of his activity while in the 
employ of the city was the abolition of the 
old poor house system. In its place he es- 
tablished a Farm Colony, comprising almost 
two thousand acres of land. Here the poor 
were taken care of in a home-like fashion. 
Man and wife were not separated but had a 
comfortable room in a pleasant cottage. The 
prisoners at the Workhouse were sent to 
the Farm, not in chains, but like free men. 
The guards had neither gun nor pistol, and 
it must be said that but few of the prisoners 
sought to escape. They were well fed and 
worked in the open, where healthy surround- 
ings exercised beneficial influences upon 
the men. 

A Boys' Farm was started, and here, too, 
the character of a public institution was 
avoided as much as possible. The boys lived 



56 TOM L. JOHNSON 

in cottages under the supervision of kind 
people, were schooled and received instruc- 
tions in the practical working of garden and 
farm. 

The Outdoor Relief Department sought em- 
ployment for the strong, and extended its aid 
in various new directions. Yet it was always 
the aim of Director Cooley to bring lasting 
benefits. He even tried to cure the drunk- 
ards and was not without success. Fresh 
air, sunshine and healthy employment did 
much to help the poor wretches. Words of 
encouragement, a friendly interest, were Di- 
rector Cooley 's medicines. He paroled 
prisoners to give them back to their families 
whenever they needed them, and it was not 
very often that he had reason to regret his 
kindness and his belief in human goodness. 
He founded a Brotherhood Home, where dis- 
charged prisoners without funds could re- 
main until they secured employment. Mayor 
Johnson, who attended the meetings of the 
Board of Pardons at the beginning of his 
term of office, was wont to put a five-dollar 



THE HELPERS 57 

bill into the hands of this and that discharged 
prisoner to give him a fresh start. This 
brought happiness to the convert and also 
to the Mayor in his enthusiasm for better 
conditions for all men. 

Director Cooley gave splendid service, and, 
by and by, his fame spread over the land, 
and people came from far away, even from 
across the ocean, to see and to learn of his 
work. To know him was to like him. He 
was a good speaker, and his voice would 
quiver when he told about his wards and their 
needs and sorrows. And there was not a 
Councilman who would not vote for the ap- 
propriation for which Director Cooley had 
asked. Few men of his kind have lived. 
Hats off to them. With a bleeding heart he 
took leave from his friends and brethren, the 
poor, lowly and downtrodden, when he was 
forced to say "Good-bye." 

Another man who assisted successfully in 
the great work of developing and modern- 
ising the City of Cleveland was Dr. Martin 
Friedrich, appointed health officer by Mayor 



58 TOM E. JOHNSON 

Johnson, after a former appointee had been 
summarily discharged, as above mentioned. 
Dr. Friedrich, a German by birth, began an 
unceasing war against all unsanitary condi- 
tions and became known as a fearless small- 
pox fighter. His two predecessors had not 
been able to stamp out the epidemic raging 
in their time. The new officer required but 
a few months to free the city from the dire 
disease. Since that time all contagious dis- 
eases have been carefully watched, physi- 
cians have been sent to the schools to exam- 
ine all children at regular intervals, the 
water supply has been continually inspected, 
the building of sewers urged, and there was 
much disinfecting done in public buildings 
and private houses. The general health of 
the city was enhanced, and in the year 1909 
Cleveland showed the lowest death rate of 
any of the larger cities in the country. Dr. 
Friedrich was no politician and is not affili- 
ated with any party. He put his whole soul 
into his work as it should be, and is a man 
of fine intellect. 



THE HELPERS 59 

In the course of time the administration 
of the City of Cleveland was spoken of in the 
press of other cities. The magazines con- 
tained lengthy articles about the Mayor and 
his methods, and Mr. Johnson was declared 
the best Mayor of the best governed city of 
the United States. 

The citizens of Cleveland, not the hostile 
politicians, appreciated the efforts of their 
city administration. They knew that intelli- 
gent, clever, and honest men tried to do their 
best. Not always did they understand the 
aims of Mayor Johnson, who frequently 
marched ahead of his time. The conserva- 
tive element found fault with his methods 
and accused him of burdening the city with 
debts. He was accused of spending too much 
money on the poor and that the Workhouse 
did not pay, as in former years. It was not 
his intention to make that institution a source 
of revenue, nor to be saving in matters of 
charity. On the other hand, he suppressed 
unsparingly low dives, and the social evil as 
much as possible. His Chief of Police, Fred- 



60 TOM L. JOHNSON 

erick Kohler, made a name for himself, being 
recognised as one of the most energetic and 
successful police officers in the country. 
Mayor Johnson was of a liberal turn of mind, 
and well aware that narrow views on the 
Sunday question would not do in a city like 
Cleveland, with its conglomeration of nation- 
alities, he did not enforce the antiquated blue 
laws. For this he was frequently and se- 
verely criticised, but he laughed at his 
critics. 

It was ever his aim to lighten the burden 
of the poor. He abolished almost entirely the 
license fee system. Hucksters and pedlars 
were no longer required to pay their hard- 
earned pennies into the city treasury. He 
demanded from his Council fair wages for 
the city employes, but was averse to in- 
creases for the high-salaried officials, making 
exceptions in very few cases. 

Dealing with great questions he almost in- 
variably antagonised the "interests." He 
demanded full protection of the city, never 
retreating one step from his demands. Thus 



THE HELPERS 61 

the building of a new Union Depot was de- 
layed until this day ; the street railway ques- 
tion caused a war forever famous, and 
regrettable, in a way, at least. The Cleve- 
land Electric Illuminating Company fought 
his demands and had soon a competitor in 
the East Ohio Gas Company, a Rockefeller 
concern furnishing natural gas. This com- 
pany was given a franchise with a stipulation 
that the City Council should have the right 
to fix the price of gas every ten years. The 
Mayor 's enemies entitled it a perpetual fran- 
chise. He declared it a franchise renewable 
every ten years. Opinions differ on this 
point, but Mayor Johnson was accused by 
some of his bitterest foes of having received 
a million dollars for saddling this grant upon 
the city. Of course where Mr. Rockefeller 
is concerned, a million is like a drop of water 
in a bucket. They might, therefore, as well 
have said ten millions, and their accusation 
would have been just as plausible. As to his 
integrity in municipal affairs, Mr. Johnson 
needs no defender. He had passed the stage 



62 TOM L. JOHNSON 

of deals and made his conditions known from 
the beginning. 

If the politician was predominant in Mayor 
Johnson, his instincts of the former business 
man were still noticeable. He could never 
be induced to make war on the smoke nui- 
sance, though recognising its great detriment 
to the people and their homes. "Where 
there is smoke, there is business," he used to 
say and dismiss the subject. He was al- 
ways willing to grant the railroads permis- 
sion to lay tracks across the streets or to 
make betterments. In the building of a belt 
line to further traffic he sided with the rail- 
roads, though deputation after deputation of 
citizens whose properties were of need in- 
jured, pleaded with him for protection. He 
had a way of subjugating the smaller for the 
bigger thing. 

The building of a new City Hall and a 
high-level bridge across the Cuyahoga Eiver 
were frustrated by the voters, who refused 
to sanction the necessary bond issues. Some 
of the most dangerous grade crossings were 



THE HELPERS 63 

abolished, however. A great plan, redeem- 
ing the lake front for park and business pur- 
poses for a distance of over six miles was 
conceived by Mr. Johnson towards the un- 
expected end of his public career. 

In the course of time the actualities of the 
daily life and strife pushed his theories on 
sociology into the background. He had not 
given them up nor changed his views upon 
any of them. Single tax and free trade no 
longer belonged to his daily curriculum, how- 
ever. They went down with his defeat in 
state politics, and were of no use in his great 
street railway fight, which in the last few 
years absorbed nearly all of his time. Yet 
it cannot be said that he neglected many of 
his other duties as Mayor. He had depart- 
ment heads in whose knowledge and integrity 
he could fully trust. The City Hall machine, 
not politically speaking, worked to perfec- 
tion. Besides, Mayor Johnson could expe- 
dite business, in a truly wonderful way. He 
worked as much in a day as half a 
dozen ordinary men. His working day ex- 



64 TOM L\ JOHNSON 

tended over sixteen and more hours, Sunday 
not excepted, when occasion demanded it. 
His power of concentration was great and is 
one of the secrets of his success in life. No 
matter how many different questions were 
brought to his attention, each one was given 
due consideration, followed by quick deci- 
sion. 

His theory on municipal ownership was as 
much exploited as circumstances and the 
state laws would allow. Contracts for 
street cleaning and street lighting were can- 
celled or left unrenewed when they expired. 
The private company which collected gar- 
bage was bought out and two electric lighting 
plants became the city's property by annex- 
ation. Mayor Johnson was very solicitous 
that these plants should make a good show- 
ing, and Director Springborn succeeded in 
rendering them effective. 

Enemies of the administration tried in vain 
to convert the citizens to a contrary view. 
The building of an art museum was delayed 
because Mr. Johnson insisted on a stipula- 



THE HELPERS 65 

tion fixing the days of free admittance, after 
the trustees of the museum had demanded 
the cession of park land for a site from the 
city. It was his constant aim in those mat- 
ters to watch and extend the rights of the 
public. 

While Mayor Johnson did not succeed in 
all his great plans, he gave the City of Cleve- 
land a clean and honest administration. He 
awoke the people to their interests and edu- 
cated them in municipal matters so well that 
they overthrew him, when they believed that 
his usefulness had come to an end. To-day 
the people of Cleveland are perhaps better 
versed in public affairs than the citizens of 
any other city of the United States. He was 
a great teacher, and his greatest legacy is, 
after all, the public spirit which is awakened 
in his fellow citizens. It was beyond human 
power, even for this extraordinary man, to 
overcome the resistance of a united class of 
influential and powerful men, who saw in 
Mayor Johnson an enemy, and who had the 
law machinery and the powers of the State 



66 TOM L. JOHNSON 

on their side. Only a man of his intelligence 
and forcefulness, could accomplish anything 
under those circumstances. The City of 
Cleveland owes to Mayor Johnson a monu- 
ment, as much as the Chamber of Commerce 
owed one to Mark Hanna. 



VI 
TWO RADICALS 

A MAYOR like Tom L. Johnson needed 
a city solicitor after his own heart. 
It did not take him long to find one in Mr. 
Newton D. Baker, a young lawyer from West 
Virginia, who had come to Cleveland in 1899 
at the age of about 28. Mr. Baker was small 
of stature, smooth-faced, had dreamy eyes, 
carefully-combed hair, was neat in appear- 
ance, and had the aspect of a poet and a 
scholar. His body slightly bent forward, he 
moved along with a peculiar gait, seemed 
always absorbed, and never having much 
time for anybody. Yet, he was a thorough 
gentleman, polite and even considerate. 
There was something soothing in the tone of 
his voice, which made itself heard in the 
purest and most select English you could 
possibly listen to. Everybody praised him 

67 



68 TOM L. JOHNSON 

for the fine use of his mother tongue, and it 
was indeed a treat to listen to the music of 
his words. Even the coarse and the illiter- 
ate were charmed by his language. By and 
by the flatterers came around and told him 
of his great gift, as if he were not aware 
that he possessed it. Yet, he was in danger 
of being spoiled a little by this hymnus song 
from all sides. 

He was unsurpassed in telling a story, or 
in addressing the City Council on some spe- 
cial subject which had aroused his interest. 
But he reached the height of his oratory 
when eulogising his friend and master, the 
Mayor. In his great political speeches (and 
he made many very fine ones) he lacked the 
inner strength to carry himself up to a real 
climax. 

His flow of language was as clear and 
smooth as that of a silvery brook running 
through a meadow full of rare and rich flow- 
ers. He was possessed of a quaint humor 
that ran into a slight sarcasm when the oc- 
casion presented itself. It must be consid- 



TWO EADICALS 69 

ered a great pity that this master-artist of 
English chose the profession of a lawyer. 
His written legal opinions were mostly hor- 
rid examples of how one may obscure a 
meaning by a sea of words. It must also be 
said in his justification, that he never consid- 
ered himself a great lawyer, and was always 
willing to recognise the talent on the oppo- 
site side of the trial table from where he, 
however, carried off many a brilliant victory. 
That he was drawn into politics is per- 
haps more lamentable than his becoming a 
lawyer. His preceptor, it is true, was no 
common politician, but there are mean tricks 
in the game that must be played. There can 
be no doubt, that Mr. Baker felt an aversion 
for his position after his initiation, but there 
was no way out of it under the circumstances. 
In the course of time he proved an apt dis- 
ciple, yet a true politician he could never be, 
and did not wish to be. His tendencies were 
rather of an aristocratic nature ; he was more 
of an observer and listener, than a talker. 
The society of the cultured suited his tastes 



70 TOM L. JOHNSON 

better than intercourse with the ordinary 
man. 

A true estimate of the character of Mr. 
Baker is a difficult task. Like Hamlet, he 
was not as easily played as a flute. He felt 
no desire for an expansion of his feelings, 
and could not be called communicative. He 
was careful even to hide the vanity his great 
gifts might have excused. He tried to sup- 
press the impatience which sometimes showed 
itself against his will. As a philosopher he 
was thus constantly disciplining himself, 
avoiding exposure of weak spots. Always 
measured and gauged, he was master of him- 
self, and therefore master of his surround- 
ings. Endowed with a good memory, quick 
perception and a great thirst for knowledge, 
he was indefatigable in acquiring learning. 
A despiser of newspapers, he read many 
books of ancient lore and modern wisdom. 
Few men possess the vocabulary of which Mr. 
Baker could boast, few his ability to make 
use of the knowledge gained by reading. 

It always seemed a contradiction that this 



TWO RADICALS 71 

lawyer and scholar should espouse the cause 
of the people and take interest in modern 
sociology and political affairs. As a student 
of human nature, of course, he might discuss 
those things in an academic way, but that 
he should throw himself, body and soul, into 
the midst of the daily turmoil of our present 
struggles, does appear incongruous. The 
solution of the riddle must be looked for in 
the influence which Mayor Johnson gained 
over him. Mr. Johnson loved to surround 
himself with clever and bright young men, 
and Mr. Baker was the leader of them. He 
gained Mr. Johnson's confidence as no other 
man before him, and, no doubt, no one de- 
served this confidence more than he. His ad- 
miration for Mayor Johnson came danger- 
ously near to adulation. 

On one occasion, after a splendid speech 
of the Mayor to his City Council, Mr. Baker 
was heard to say, " There must be a special 
heaven for men like Mayor Johnson." 

The feeling honored him, but on the other 
hand it gave evidence of blind enthusiasm. 



72 TOM L. JOHNSON 

Maybe enthusiasm is always blind. His loy- 
alty to Mr. Johnson was admirable to the 
last, and it cannot be said that Mr. Baker was 
of an ungrateful nature. It is a question, 
however, whether he would, standing alone 
have followed the same course as he has in 
the last eight years. His inclinations speak 
against it. 

The friendship of Mayor Johnson for his 
young city solicitor was remarkable. He, at 
times, needed a man to whom he could confide 
his troubles and vicissitudes, though it is 
not likely that he revealed, even to him, his 
innermost desires and plans. Those, no man 
knows. It was not an easy matter to be a 
friend and co-worker of Mayor Johnson. 
He demanded much of a man's time, energy 
and ability. The day had often twenty-four 
hours for both of them. Mr. Baker was a 
great worker, but his work was always of an 
exacting nature, and in the course of time 
his features showed the strain under which 
he worked. There came a time when the 
freshness of youth vanished from the hereto- 



TWO BADICALS 73 

fore young-looking face. Still the work kept 
on, and so did Mr. Baker. 

Mayor Johnson was no great observer of 
law, and very apt to stretch a point or two. 
It was the duty of the City Solicitor to show 
him his error. Much of reasoning was to 
be done by him, and he was not always suc- 
cessful. Like all strong men, the Mayor 
wished his way, and as a consequence many 
fruitless lawsuits must be fought out. The 
Street Eailway lawsuits were a task to put 
to the test the best of lawyers, and Mr. Baker 
had the strongest legal lights against him. 
For six long years he fought them almost 
single-handed with the various ups and 
downs common to warfare, but finally he 
came out the victor in a glorious struggle 
with an inglorious end. 

From the court room to the political tent 
was but one step in those days. Solicitor 
Baker was fully in accord with Mayor John- 
son's doctrines. He preached single tax, 
home rule, free trade, tax reform, direct vote, 
and death to the special interests. Very se- 



74 TOM L. JOHNSON 

rious lie was, and with his splendid oratory it 
was easy for him to sway his audiences at 
pleasure. But it must not be surmised that 
he was a cold-blooded orator. He warmed 
up to his subject, and at times was even a lit- 
tle nervous, like all good speakers. One al- 
most forgot, listening to him, that he was 
preaching the new Gospel of the Times, that 
he considered himself a radical. His diction 
was too beautiful for a revolutionist, his man- 
ner too gentle. Yet, there he stood, advocat- 
ing the destruction of the old political struc- 
tures and preaching the redemption of the 
people. They needed the sermon, no doubt. 
Of course, as a lawyer of good standing, he 
kept within the law, never criticising a court 
decision, even if it came from the Supreme 
Court of the United States. He would, 
however, collar a justice of the peace, having 
no use for that kind of renderer of judicial 
wisdom. 

The solicitor claimed no ambitions beyond 
the fulfilment of his daily duties, but he was 



TWO RADICALS 75 

human like the rest of us, and had gotten 
into politics. 

A man who gave a certain distinction, or, 
if you will, notoriety, to the Johnson admin- 
istration, was City Clerk Peter Witt. He 
was of the common people, stood by them, 
and fought their battles with the "big stick,' ' 
though he hated Roosevelt. Peter, as they 
called him, had a common school education, 
learned the trade of an iron moulder, and 
became a union man, anarchist, socialist, tax 
reformer, City Clerk, lecturer on municipal 
affairs, and a political speaker. His assets 
were a good intellect, splendid memory, fear- 
lessness, honesty of purpose and an almost 
uncontrollable tongue. His onslaught was 
simply terrible, and spared no one, not even 
Tom L. Johnson. 

At one time he began to study law, but 
being no juggler of words, he found it impos- 
sible to continue, and stopped then and there. 
Peter had to say what he thought of a thing 



76 TOM L. JOHNSON 

or a man in plain language, and had no 
patience with studied effort to hide an opin- 
ion. If he believed a man to be a rascal, 
he told him so, using that expression. He 
would call a man a thief, if he felt justified 
in doing so, even if that man was a judge. 
The representatives of corporations always 
fared ill with him. As a young man he had 
felt the pangs of cold and hunger, the hope- 
lessness of the shop worker, and later on the 
misery of mankind in general. Being op- 
timistic by nature, he was not crushed by 
wretched experiences, but aroused to oppo- 
sition and fight. 

He saw the gulf between the rich and the 
poor, and began to study the cause. The 
selfishness of the human biped dawned upon 
him, but he saw it first only in those of the 
possessing class. He found that the laws 
were made by that class and for it. A young 
man yet, he could not discover the great 
principles of nature underlying the struggle 
of life, and therefore attacked most violently 
the foe as he saw him. From the rostrum 



TWO KADICALS 77 

he addressed the people in his fearless way. 
He was an uncouth, but forceful and sarcas- 
tic speaker, quick at repartee and not with- 
out some beautiful sentiments. 

After a while he wrote a book flagellating 
the tax dodgers, and thereby arousing the dis- 
gust of many people. He had no reverence 
for church or preacher, and was therefore 
held in abhorrence by the best of our citizens. 
On his side there were the downbeaten, the 
outcast, and the crowd of godless sinners 
who despised the laws and institutions of the 
land, and honored no man on account of his 
office or his station in life. 

"He goes too far," the peace-loving lis- 
tener to his speeches would say. "Give it 
to them," cried the man in rags. The prom- 
inent citizen would walk away, perhaps with 
a smile, perhaps with a pious wish in con- 
nection with a rope and a lamp post. Peter 
would go him one better. He did not keep 
his wish to himself, but expressed it often 
and in a loud voice. Yet it would be a griev- 
ous thing to mention here the many good 



78 TOM L. JOHNSON 

law-abiding men who inwardly rejoiced at 
Peter Witt's strong expostulations and con- 
fessed approval to their wicked pleasure in 
listening to them. 

Witt had many open and many silent 
friends. Those who knew him well, wished 
him well, for he was a man of good qualities 
of heart and character, social, bubbling over 
with the joy of living, and a good spender if 
he had anything to spend. He was honest 
and brotherly, but merciless towards cant 
and hypocrisy. Nothing and nobody could 
stop him from mentioning names when his 
ire was aroused. As he was very well in- 
formed about men and things he could strike 
hard and did it. It happened sometimes that 
he would wrong the best of men on the 
strength of some doubtful information. He, 
then, would repent with a curse at his mis- 
take. 

This was the man that Tom E. Johnson be- 
friended, though his name had been men- 
tioned in Witt's book about the tax dodgers. 



TWO RADICALS 79 

He made him head of his tax school, and the 
schoolmaster proved a success. Mr. Witt, 
in the course of a few years had learned some 
new things, and met the people he used to 
attack face to face in an official way. Some 
of them took a fancy to him, but it happened 
more than once that he would ruthlessly de- 
stroy their good opinion of him, if he thought 
that they were trying to take advantage of 
the city or the people. One might have 
taken him for one of the Incorruptibles of 
the French E evolution. Had he lived then 
in France, he would have forged his way to 
the front, and, no doubt, cut off heads and 
lost his own. 

After the famous tax school was closed 
under a decree of court, Witt became City 
Clerk, to "draw an income for doing no th- 
ing/ ' as he used to say. Nevertheless he 
attended to his duties and between times went 
on short lecture tours, spoke in political 
meetings, showing tax pictures and "getting 
even" with his foes. He was a disciple of 



80 TOM L. JOHNSON 

Izaak Walton, and would often disappear for 
a few days or a week daring the fishing sea- 
son to woo the finny tribe. 

His relations with the different councilmen 
were very friendly, and he gained the good 
will of everyone, though he would some- 
times lecture them severely if certain of 
their official actions did not please him. 
Neither was Mayor Johnson spared the dis- 
pleasure of Mr. Witt, if that gentleman did 
not agree with him. Mr. Johnson knew his 
man, and took no offence. 

In the course of time and through the in- 
fluence of his surroundings, Peter Witt lost 
some of his ferocity, acquired a little more 
tact, and became more of a polished speaker. 
He was really an orator, in his way, natural, 
forceful and sometimes picturesque. It was 
useless for him to prepare a speech, for he 
could not adhere to a preconceived idea, but 
spoke as he felt, when addressing an audi- 
ence. Then he "let go," as he has said. 

In him one certainly found the man who 
at all times, and under all circumstances, had 



TWO RADICALS 81 

the courage to express his opinion, and ex- 
press it with vigor. In this respect he was 
a curiosity in an age when men are masters 
of the art of dissembling. 

Had Mayor Johnson been possessed of the 
philosophical mind of a Socrates he would 
have sought the friendship of Peter Witt 
as a healthful discipline against pride and 
conceit. But as it was, he saw in him a use- 
ful addition to his official household. He was 
not mistaken, for Peter had a following 
among the workingmen, who liked him as 
much as he was detested by the men who had 
no love for Johnson. 



VII 
THE POLITICIAN 

SOON after Mayor Johnson had taken of- 
fice it became apparent that a new po- 
litical era was to begin for Cleveland. He 
had succeeded in uniting around his banner 
the democracy of Cuyahoga County, with 
the exception of a small coterie of old-time 
Democrats. These men promptly declared 
him a fraud and a humbug, but their voices 
found only an echo in the ranks of the Ee- 
publican politicians. The people were with 
Johnson, who had returned to Cleveland with 
new doctrines. Being, however, an astute 
politician, he was no doctrinaire, and did not 
always follow his own preachings. 

His experience in Washington and New 
York had shown him the difficulty of win- 
ning a great mass of people to new ideas. 
He therefore used as the slogan of his may- 

82 



THE POLITICIAN 83 

oralty campaign: " Three cent fare on the 
street cars." It was a seductive war cry 
and led to victory. Home rule, municipal 
ownership, tax reform and single tax were 
all parts of his creed, but less emphasized. 
That he was a free trader everybody knew, 
and many called him a socialist, which he 
was not and could not have been. 

Tom L. Johnson, the politician, was never 
well understood. His alert nature drove him 
instantly toward new things. His practical 
bent of mind prevented him from entertain- 
ing extreme views, and from drawing the last 
conclusions. Being a selfish, rich man, he 
would not quite emancipate himself from his 
riches, even in thought. He declared re- 
peatedly that he was no philanthropist and 
he knew how to hold on to his belongings. 
But, having given up money-making to sat- 
isfy his political ambition, he saw with keen 
insight the great wrongs of our political and 
industrial systems. Feeling in himself the 
strength of a Hercules, the cleaning out of 
the Augean stables became a great tempta- 



84 TOM L. JOHNSON 

tion. He might do an immense service to 
his country, as mayor, governor, and finally 
as president. There is no doubt that he 
cherished such a thought, and — honi soit qui 
mal y pense. 

As a former monopolist he was not op- 
posed to large enterprises and saw their ne- 
cessity under the prevailing conditions. He 
himself wished to be one of the conquerors 
of the earth. Yet, he could foresee the dan- 
gers lurking behind too much rapaciousness, 
and he felt for mankind in general. He 
wished to avert the day when a hungry and 
infuriated populace would not only plunder 
plutocracy, but also strangle it. They called 
him an anarchist and a socialist. He was 
rather the former than the latter. His an- 
archism consisted in enough disrespect for 
the law to demand its alteration for the good 
of the masses. It was rendering a service to 
his enemies, according to his views, to warn 
them in time of impending danger, by point- 
ing the way to safety. Of course, it meant 
sacrifices to them, which they were not willing 



THE POLITICIAN 85 

to make. He on his side was ready to force 
them to yield through the courts, the State 
Legislature or Congress, or through pressure 
of public opinion. 

He was not a socialist because he did not 
believe that nature made all men equal or 
that natural differences could be overcome by 
human precept. Neither did he believe man 
equal to the task of formulating a ready- 
made economic system. 

Political economy was with him a matter 
of development, and his whole political activ- 
ity was based upon this view. The great en- 
terprises of the " interests' ' could therefore 
be regulated, but their right of existence was 
not questioned. He favored labor unions 
as long as they did not interfere with the suc- 
cess of legitimate business. 

When Johnson became Mayor of Cleve- 
land the movement to purify the adminis- 
tration of American cities was becoming a U 
fashion, and he was about the first to give 
it a practical demonstration. Cleveland had 
at that time another distinguished citizen, 



86 TOM L. JOHNSON 

Mark A. Hanna, the friend and " maker' ' of 
President McKinley, and the most powerful 
member of the United States Senate. The 
political and personal interests of the two 
men were as antagonistic as their natures. 
They had fought each other in street rail- 
way wars that were to be renewed, and in 
addition stood upon different political plat- 
forms. The citizens of Cleveland began to 
see interesting times. 

Senator Hanna had not been in politics as 
long as Mayor Johnson, but his experience 
was on a larger scale. He was the better 
business man of the two, and also a more 
forceful character. Behind him stood the 
most powerful interests. He was not a poli- 
tician in the accepted meaning of the word, 
but a business man in politics. Of Johnson 
it might be said that he was also a politician 
in business. Hanna, in his sometimes brutal 
frankness, remarked on one occasion that if 
he could not combine business and politics 
he would give up politics. Johnson gave up 
business to go into politics. 



THE POLITICIAN 87 

The senator's enemies saw in this declara- 
tion a frank confession that he meant to make 
money out of politics. Of course, they could 
not accuse him of stealing in a legal sense, 
but rather declared that he manipulated leg- 
islation in his and his friends' favor. 

There is no doubt that he was perfectly 
sincere in his political convictions. It was 
his opinion that the prosperity of the busi- 
ness world meant also the well being of the 
workingmen. In this sense he worked and 
toiled for his country and his fellow citizens. 
He was of a generous disposition and wished 
to advance everybody's welfare. But he 
found little time to study the wretchedness 
in the huts, and had a rather dangerous con- 
ception of the power of money. He was ac- 
cused of supporting the old adage that every 
man has his price. 

The business men saw in him their cham- 
pion, the labor unions an enemy to their 
cause. He answered them with the "full 
dinner pail" and won them over. 

His friendship and devotion for McKinley 



88 TOM L. JOHNSON 

was one of the strangest traits of his char- 
acter. He had put him up as an idol and be- 
came its most pious worshipper. There was 
a certain grandeur in this adoration. During 
the campaign following the untimely death 
of McKinley, he would speak of him with an 
earnestness and a depth of feeling that turned 
a political audience under a flapping tent 
canvas into a congregation of believers. 
Mark Hanna was not a fluent speaker but 
he spoke with great force. When aroused 
he was as a volcano in eruption. His words 
exploded like thunderbolts and were convinc- 
ing, in spite of poor argument. 

Contrast with this the easy-flowing con- 
versational speeches of Tom L. Johnson, in- 
terspersed with humorous stories and keen 
remarks upon things and men. He amused 
while teaching his lesson, and spoke rather 
to the intelligence than the hearts of men. 
His speeches reminded one of the picture of 
a beautiful butterfly, descending here and 
there for a moment upon a chaliced flower to 
sip its honey. He would never delve deeply 



THE POLITICIAN 89 

into a subject in his speeches, but seemed only 
to skim the surface of things. His thunder 
was of the nature of the sharp crack of a 
whip. 

The battle between the two men was like 
the fight between Siegfried and the dragon. 
Subtlety, ruse and perseverance on one 
side; strength, ferocity and hatred on the 
other. The skirmishing had begun during 
the mayoralty campaign, but the fighting line 
soon extended beyond the city and county 
lines into the territory of the State. Mayor 
Johnson was the first to use a tent for his 
political meetings. He was derided and rid- 
iculed as a circus clown but the time came 
when even the stately Mark Hanna found the 
use of a tent expedient. Yea, he was not 
adverse to having a band of music or a 
negro quartette upon the same platform with 
him. 

Tom L'. Johnson abhorred these things and 
would have none of them. Neither would he 
contribute during campaign times one cent 
toward charitable undertakings of any kind, 



90 TOM I! JOHNSON 

declaring that it was not his intention to buy 
votes in that or any other way. 

"I have no use for boodlers," he was wont 
to say, "and any man who thinks he can get 
money out of me might just as well stay 
away. ' ' 

His enemies called him stingy, and would 
not believe that he made his rules in the in- 
terest of the purity of elections, but treated 
his action as a personal convenience and as 
a safeguard against spending his private 
funds. They pointed to the liberality of 
Mark Hanna, who would generously give to 
hospitals and churches while a campaign was 
in progress. Of course, his enemies called 
this bribery and vote-buying. Johnson spent 
large amounts of money during his cam- 
paigns for printed matter and for his tents, 
of which there were soon two in use. He 
never forced any city employe under his di- 
rection to contribute toward the campaign 
fund, but the money nevertheless was forth- 
coming. The executive committee of his 
party would see to those details, without 



THE POLITICIAN 91 

troubling its head, the Mayor. On the other 
side, Senator Hanna was famous as a getter 
of money for political purposes. 

Both men entertained an intense desire to 
win in the game of politics. Johnson had 
drawn first blood, and was quick in following 
up his advantage. The citizens of Cleveland 
generally favored his claim and on Novem- 
ber 5, 1901, he also won the county election. 
Mark Hanna was furious and had recourse 
to a desperate measure. The Eepublican 
State Attorney General Sheets was prevailed 
upon to bring an ouster suit against the city 
of Cleveland a month after the election. The 
city's affairs were at that time administered 
under the so-called "federal plan," which 
held the Mayor responsible for all municipal 
acts and gave him the power to appoint his 
board of directors. The plan had worked to 
the general satisfaction of the citizens of 
Cleveland and had been devised ten years 
before by some of the best of legal lights. 
All at once it seemed to have become illegal 
and impractical. The Supreme Court of 



92 TOM L\ JOHNSON 

Ohio was of that opinion and said so. The 
result was that all city governments in the 
State were destroyed, all improvements 
stopped. In Cleveland the hand of the law 
rested heavily upon the City Council and the 
administration. Another suit was brought 
to oust the Council, and an injunction granted 
to prevent passage of any franchise ordi- 
nances. Street railway franchises were the 
particular subject of attack. 

The indignation of all classes of citizens 
knew no bounds, and Mark Hanna was 
roundly denounced. Nobody believed, of 
course, that the obscure citizen who had lent 
his name to the ouster suit, was acting of his 
own volition. The people comprehended 
fully the significance of combining business 
with politics. It is possible that Senator 
Hanna understood much better than the peo- 
ple the danger of having a Tom L. Johnson 
in his way. He thought to annihilate his en- 
emy with one great stroke and set courts and 
Legislature in motion. The move was clever 
enough, but it miscarried, after all. 



THE POLITICIAN 93 

The cities of the State having no longer 
any legal standing were unable to forward 
even urgent business. It became necessary 
to call a special session of the Legislature, 
which convened on the 25th of August, 1902. 

The so-called Nash code had already been 
prepared by friends of Senator Hanna 
and Boss Cox of Cincinnati. It sheared 
the mayors of their powers and placed the 
administration of the cities in the hands of 
boards, their members to be elected by the 
people. The governor of the State was given 
power to remove the mayor of any town if 
that official could be convicted of malfea- 
sance in office. The deliberations of the 
Legislature were of short duration. On one 
of the early days Senator Hanna appeared 
before that august body and spoke in favor 
of a perpetual franchise clause. 

Mayor Johnson, at home, fairly "boiled 
over" with wrath when he heard of this de- 
mand. He, too, went to Columbus, where he 
informed the lawmakers that perpetual fran- 
chises for present monopolies meant indus- 



94 TOM L. JOHNSON 

trial servitude for unborn generations. He 
also told them that the people could always 
be trusted to protect their own interests and 
to do justice to those with whom they deal. 
He demanded that all franchises to public 
service corporations be submitted to a vote 
of the people for ratification. This demand 
was a plank of his platform. 

The Legislature, of course, paid no heed to 
his speeches, which made quite an impression 
at home, and passed the code as originally 
planned. Yet Senator Hanna was not able 
to secure enactment of his perpetual fran- 
chise proposition. That demand was too 
much even for a legislature. It was an un- 
reasonable demand in the light of our present- 
day teachings on municipal subjects. It had 
been asked in the spirit of the fortune hunter 
and not in that of a wise statesman. It was 
one of those propositions which illustrate the 
forgetfulness of our leading business men of 
the general welfare of their fellow citizens. 
It was one of the things that make a Johnson 
necessary, or a La Follette, or an Altgeld, 



THE POLITICIAN 95 

or even a Eoosevelt. Senator Hanna em- 
bodied the feeling and thinking of his class 
of men, who conjure up revolutions by their 
insatiable thirst for power and riches. An 
Olympian spectator can well understand 
their dominion of worldly affairs, for they 
are the men of brains, energy and enterprise. 
He, too, sees their limitations, their human 
short-comings, and their blindness to a higher 
life. The exploitation of the treasures of 
the earth and of the discoveries of science 
would still be carried forth on the largest 
scale possible if it were done for the benefit 
of all instead of the few. The doctrine of 
"The survival of the fittest' ' represents a 
hard truth, but the ethical side of mankind 
is also a reality and will perhaps prevail at 
the end. At least let us hope so. Et pur 
se muove. 

Johnson, shorn of his power as Mayor un- 
der the decision of the court, busied himself 
with politics more than ever. He did not 
fear to criticise the Supreme Court of the 
State, nor the Legislature, scandalising 



'96 TOM L. JOHNSON 

thereby the law-abiding citizens. While the 
General Assembly was in session to pass the 
new municipal code, he entered state poli- 
tics and succeeded in nominating Bev. Her- 
bert S. Bigelow of Cincinnati as the demo- 
cratic candidate for secretary of state. 
Bigelow was an old friend of his, a splendid 
speaker and a man of advanced ideas. He 
attacked Senator Hanna. It was he who 
coined the phrase, "Mark Hanna preaches 
the Golden Eule and practises the Eule of 
Gold." Both Johnson and Bigelow went 
out into the state, speaking in many coun- 
ties. They travelled in an automobile be- 
longing to the Mayor, a powerful machine 
which became known as the "Bed Devil" 
and aroused much curiosity. A report of 
this method of campaigning even reached 
Europe, where the newspapers published a 
highly ludicrous legend. Heralds and trum- 
peters preceded the procession to announce 
the coming of the prophet. The villagers 
and farmers gathered everywhere in great 
numbers to see the "Bed Devil" and its pas- 



THE POLITICIAN 97 

sengers. They listened to their speeches, 
which told them of the iniquity of the tax 
laws and how the people bore the burdens of 
the corporations. Then they heard of home 
rule and how every community should make 
its own laws; that the citizens should not 
give away franchises of any kind without re- 
taining full control over them. They also 
learned that Senator Hanna was a boss who 
sought to "run things" to his own personal 
satisfaction. 

The Eeubens listened with mouths and 
ears open, then shook their heads in astonish- 
ment and went back to their ploughs. A few 
days later Senator Hanna and his friends 
arrived, speaking from the rear-end plat- 
form of a special train. The Senator told 
the same audiences with all his earnestness, 
that they had listened to a hot-air artist, a 
humbugger, and a socialist. He told them 
that a wise man "leaves well enough alone' ' 
and refrains from speculative politics and 
new fads. And lo, they applauded him, and 
believed in him, and when the 4th of Novem- 



98 TOM E. JOHNSON 

ber had come and gone Herbert Bigelow and 
his friend Tom L. Johnson found themselves 
buried under an avalanche of state ballots. 
In Cleveland and Cuyahoga County the 
Mayor, however, had once more beaten Mark 
Hanna. 

Next in order were preparations for the 
great home battle to be fought in April, 1903. 
The Eepublican politicians, filled with the joy 
of their victory in the fall, had Johnson 
buried in anticipation before his time. The 
judgment of the average politician is always 
poor, because he never sees but one side (his 
side) of a question. Senator Hanna was less 
confident and left nothing undone in the for- 
mation of a strong phalanx against his en- 
emy. Under the leadership of the Senator 
the Republican party was stronger than ever 
and had the means to accomplish great 
things. The debts of the county committees 
were promptly paid, the "interests" were 
liberal and the workers not without means. 

On the other side Mayor Johnson worked 
his street railway bugaboo for all it was 



THE POLITICIAN 99 

worth. "One more victory/ ' lie said, "and 
the people will ride on the cars for three 
cents." He told them of his tax fight and 
how the public service corporations had made 
secret settlements to avoid the payment of 
larger sums. He told them what so far had 
been done under his administration, what was 
being done, and what would be done in the 
near future. Of course, the people knew all 
this and recognised it and went wild over 
him at his tent meetings. 

These tent meetings were different from 
the customary political gatherings with their 
brass bands or negro quartettes. Tom John- 
son believed more in arguments than in en- 
tertainments. Besides, he himself was enter- 
taining enough. His speeches were never 
long, but bright, easily understood, to the 
point and in a popular vein. He caused 
the public to take part in his meetings by 
inviting them to ask questions which he 
would answer with much alertness, humor 
or wit. Here he was at his best. 

Of course, most questions put were of little 



100 TOM L. JOHNSON 

or no value and frequently stupid or fool- 
ish. Some poor ignoramus, sometimes un- 
der the influence of liquor, would ask a 
question not pertinent to the subject matter 
under debate. 

1 ' Throw him out, ' 9 a voice would be heard 
from a corner. 

"Let him ask his question,' ' Mr. Johnson 
would say, and then proceed to answer with 
a witty remark that caused convulsions of 
laughter among the easily satisfied. 

"Give it to him, Tom," some enthusiast 
would cry out amid this general hilarity, and 
Tom would "give it" to him. 

It must be stated that his answers were 
usually fair, though he did not entirely re- 
frain from trickery. He understood in a 
masterly manner how to handle a large and 
unruly crowd of men. His remarks often 
became as sharp and cutting as a whip and 
were quite authoritative. It was always his 
desire to speak in the camp of the enemy, 
but he never found an adversary among the 



THE POLITICIAN 101 

other side courageous enough to invite him 
to the platform. 

Once in a while he would appear in a Re- 
publican meeting during a campaign to hear 
what the speakers had to say. His presence 
created uneasiness among the politicians, 
who on one or two occasions lost their heads 
and demanded his retirement. Of course he 
did not remain where he was not wanted, but 
told afterward with much pleasure of his 
little adventure in a chilly atmosphere. 

"Poor politics to allow Tom Johnson to 
talk at our meetings/' the Republican com- 
mittee-men would say. Yet he invited their 
speakers constantly to his tents. The invita- 
tions were accepted very rarely. He always 
saw to it that his guests were protected 
against insult but proceeded to down them in 
argument to the best of his ability. His joy 
was great when he could down an adver- 
sary. 

After Johnson came Newton D. Baker, who 
was the better speaker of the two. He made 



102 TOM L. JOHNSON 

a speech while Mr. Johnson gave what was 
really more of a talk in his easy, natural 
way. Mr. Baker would speak of Mr. John- 
son as his chief, as a man whom the people 
ought to follow because he was leading them 
to great achievements, who had made Cleve- 
land the City on the Hill and who was the 
great leader and tribune. But Mr. Baker 
would also treat the questions of the day 
with precision and clearness, and was de- 
servedly much applauded. The hit of the 
evening was generally made by Peter Witt, 
who received a noisy welcome from the audi- 
ence. Peter's specialty was the taxation 
question, and the people liked to hear him, 
because he told them who was who when it 
came to dodging the payment of taxes. He 
would spare no name. Peter, too, invited 
questions, but woe to the brute who might 
step upon his toes. His sarcasm was like 
acid, his repartee quick and killing like a 
stroke of lightning. The unfortunate victim 
found no sympathy among the audience but 
was hooted and laughed at. 



THE POLITICIAN 103 

The good people and the cautious politi- 
cians shook their heads at the fierce 
onslaught of Peter Witt. Even Mayor John- 
son would reprimand him, but one could per- 
ceive that he was not in earnest in so doing. 

The Johnson meetings were always inter- 
esting and brought many Republicans to the 
tents. There is no question that Mayor 
Johnson put new life into the political cam- 
paigns. He forced his adversaries finally 
to adopt his methods. Mark Hanna himself 
would answer questions, though he never 
liked the new kind of warfare. Johnson's 
influence over an audience was remarkable. 
There was a strong personal magnetism ever 
going out from him toward the people. In 
his light and easy manner he would speak 
to them about municipal matters, state or 
national questions. He brought them some- 
thing new, something that was of interest to 
them, and after a half-dozen campaigns, the 
citizens of Cleveland were different people, 
politically speaking. Thanks to him, they 
were among the first ones in the country to 



104 TOM L. JOHNSON 

see the dangers of great monopolies, of plu- 
tocracy whose rule has ruined wherever it 
has held forth. 

He gave a practical demonstration of his 
preachings by attacking the street railway 
companies and had also planned to overcome 
the electric lighting company of Cleveland 
at the time he was himself overcome. Nev- 
ertheless, he was never able to persuade a 
number of the people of his sincerity. He was 
constantly accused of serving the people not 
from the heart, but because of political am- 
bition. Events toward the close of his pub- 
lic career seemed to confirm this belief. He 
was not always consistent in holding holy 
the principles he advocated. His political 
life demonstrated that opportunity played a 
great factor in his doings, especially after 
the first four years of his successes. There 
was nothing in this to those who had a chance 
to study the man Johnson. The people at 
large saw in him their champion as they saw 
in Mark Hanna the representative of the 
rich. In April, 1903, they had not forgotten 



THE POLITICIAN 105 

what happened to them the year before and 
when the municipal election was over, Tom 
Johnson saw himself re-elected with a plural- 
ity of 5,985, and with him were chosen the men 
who had worked under him before the 
Legislature had deprived the mayors of the 
cities of Ohio of the right of making their 
own appointments. Thus Mr. Johnson's 
victory was complete, in spite of the oppo- 
sition of the mighty Hanna. About those 
times the friends of Johnson used to say 
that the Senator could not be elected a con- 
stable in his home city. 

The Democrats were jubilant and cele- 
brated their victory with great enthusiasm. 
Mayor Johnson, with face radiant, smiling 
and happy, conceived still greater things. 
He now thought the time had come to expand. 
The prestige of his great victory secured 
him the much coveted leadership in state 
politics, in spite of a strong opposition from 
many politicians in his own party. They 
feared him, and he despised them openly. 
It cannot be said that Tom L. Johnson was 



106 TOM L'. JOHNSON 

very diplomatic. On the contrary, lie was 
outspoken in his likes and dislikes. He 
would go into a county in any part of the 
State and fight a member of the Legislature 
who was up for re-election and who had 
voted in favor of measures obnoxious to the 
Mayor of Cleveland. 

It was soon rumored that Mr. Johnson 
was striving for the gubernatorial nomina- 
tion. His friend, Charles P. Salen, who was 
in a way a better politician and organiser 
than the Mayor, was during the spring and 
summer of 1903 frequently out of town. He 
undertook diplomatic missions among the 
Democratic state leaders, who hated John- 
son. The astute Mr. Salen won them over, 
for he, too, had a winning smile for men of 
his kind. By and by the rumors became 
more persistent. The true friends of John- 
son took alarm at them and hastened to ques- 
tion him. 

"To be Mayor of Cleveland is good enough 
for me," he answered. "I have no desire to 
be Governor of Ohio." 



THE POLITICIAN 107 

Such were his words to the best of his 
friends a few days before the meeting of the 
Democratic state convention of that year. 
Notwithstanding his denials, they warned 
him against an undertaking that looked like 
nothing more than a "gamble" lost in ad- 
vance. Senator Hanna was seeking re- 
election from the next Legislature and would, 
no doubt, make the supreme effort of his life 
to beat his arch-enemy. Johnson had never 
shown any strength outside his own county 
and city, yet, here he was, ready to contest 
a state election under such circumstances. 
It was not an easy matter for him even to 
secure the nomination from his own party. 
Without Salen he could not have done it. He 
knew all this, must have known it, for he was 
an able student of political currents. But, 
as said before, there was something of the 
gambler and plunger in his nature. He 
would take a risk as long as it did not cost 
his head. He would still be Mayor if de- 
feated as a candidate for Governor. After 
all, who knows? There was his luck, which 



108 TOM E. JOHNSON 

might carry him into the state capitol. 
Such things had happened hefore. 

For his own justification, and as a reason 
for his candidacy he made up a programme. 
He declared that there could not be good 
municipal administration so long as it was 
controlled by the State and corrupted by 
corporations. Also did he find it necessary 
to become Governor in order to carry out this 
programme. He received the nomination 
from his party, and forthwith began a most 
vigorous campaign. The people of Ohio 
now had their turn in surprises. His great 
circus tent was erected in many counties 
where Johnson was not personally known. 
Good speakers travelled with the candidate, 
not excepting Peter Witt, who made many a 
flying trip through the State. John H. 
Clarke, a very intelligent and highly re- 
spected citizen, and chief counsel of the 
Nickel Plate Eailway, was Johnson's candi- 
date for United States senator and therefore 
running directly against Mark Hanna. Mr. 
Clarke, who was a fine and forcible speaker, 



THE POLITICIAN 109 

won many admirers. Though a corporation 
lawyer, he was a man of independent views 
and thoroughly democratic, though not al- 
ways in the Johnson sense. He differed on 
some big questions with the candidate for 
Governor and said so at their meetings. But 
Johnson was broad-minded and rather liked 
opposition as long as it was not directed 
against his own plans. 

The Democratic State ticket of that mem- 
orable year contained the names of fearless 
and progressive men. The legislative ticket 
of Cuyahoga County represented well the 
Johnsonites. On the other side of the battle 
field stood Senator Hanna with a guard, old 
and tried in Ohio politics, and well equipped 
for the great strife. The onslaught of the 
Democrats was fierce. Their main fire was 
directed against the Senator and Boss Cox 
of Cincinnati. The former was accused of 
favoring government by injunction, of per- 
petual franchises for public service corpora- 
tions, of unjust taxation, and of threatening 
to take away the jobs of workingmen who did 



110 TOM L. JOHNSON 

not vote for him. Johnson, the Democratic 
speakers declared, was leading the fight for 
the people and their rights. A great stir 
was made but the Johnson candidacy created 
no enthusiasm among the people. The 
Mayor in his impetuosity had tried to create 
a psychological moment and missed his 
guess. Two years later would have been the 
right time for Tom L. Johnson. 

Senator Hanna went into the campaign 
with much confidence but yet with some trepi- 
dation. He knew his adversary to be a man 
of many resources and of great energy. 
Wherever the Mayor's "Bed Devil" went, 
the Senator followed to undo the damage 
wrought by the enemy. He depicted John- 
son, just as on former occasions, as a charla- 
tan, an anarchist, and a bad man on general 
principles, bent on creating unrest and dis- 
satisfaction, a demagogue who wanted to 
empty the dinner pail of the workmen, filled 
by the Eepublican party. He evoked the 
ghost of McKinley in a tremulous voice and 
thereby greatly impressed his audiences. 



THE POLITICIAN 111 

The result of the campaign was a most in- 
glorious defeat. Never before had a Demo- 
cratic candidate for governor been beaten 
with such a majority of votes against him. 
Johnson came home, and two days after the 
election his laugh was as gay as ever. He 
was still Mayor of Cleveland. Yet it was the 
last time that he played a role in state poli- 
tics. The Democratic leaders and corrup- 
tionists dropped him as if he were a hot iron 
that had been forced into their hands. They 
had certainly voted against him. Well-in- 
formed politicians were emphatic in their 
declaration that Johnson had been given the 
nomination in order to exterminate him from 
state politics. The scheme, if such existed, 
had worked well. But as before, Cuyahoga 
County stood by Mr. Johnson, gave him a 
majority and elected his delegation to the 
legislature. It was of no avail. The Ee- 
publican majority ignored the little group 
from Cleveland, and would not listen to the 
best of propositions. Senator Hanna caused 
the spring elections to be abolished in the 



112 TOM L. JOHNSON 

hope that he might beat Johnson in a fall 
election, when the people would vote on a 
state ticket. 

Destiny spared him a bitter deception. 
Mark Hanna had greatly exerted himself 
during the campaign. He was a vigorous 
man, but much older than Johnson and hardly 
in condition to follow the latter in his travels 
over the State. In December he showed 
signs of a collapse and his physicians urged 
him to recuperate in the South. He refused, 
as the legislature was to be arrayed in line 
for his re-election to the United States sen- 
ate. Thus he continued working and at the 
beginning of 1904 he was re-elected. Con- 
gress being in session, Senator Hanna re- 
turned to Washington to take up his duties 
there, having hardly taken any rest. At the 
capitol his work was arduous. He was still 
a leading spirit though the advent of Eoose- 
velt had relegated him to his seat in the 
senate chamber in place of his former sphere 
of activity in the President's private rooms. 
"The Interests" urged him to run for the 



THE POLITICIAN 113 

presidency and many politicians there were 
who prophesied his nomination and election. 
Suddenly the news came from Washington 
that Mark Hanna had fallen sick with typhoid 
fever. Grave fears were entertained from 
the first, for his weakened condition was 
known. He died in March, begging of his 
physicians, who tortured him with efforts to- 
ward resurrection, to permit him to depart 
in peace. The old Eoman sentiment, Be 
mortuis nil nisi bonum, being out of date 
in our days, Senator Hanna 's death was re- 
joiced over by his diabolical enemies, who 
forgot that they too were mortal and of 
much less consequence. Whatever might be 
said against Mark Hanna as a politician, he 
was a man of strength, a Bismarck, in a cer- 
tain sense, who with a strong hand and sure 
of his purpose, went straight toward his goal. 
It could be argued that a Bismarck had no 
place in a republic, but the iron chancellor 
of the German Empire was not less hated 
and admired than Mark Hanna. The sen- 
ator had no patience with the new movements 



114 TOM L. JOHNSON 

of our times; he was old-fashioned in his 
political views, a practical man of affairs, 
using the means at hand to gain his point, 
which was adverse to socialistic preachings 
of any kind. 

Tom L. Johnson regretted the untimely de- 
mise of his enemy, the only one he found 
truly worthy of his steel. He had beaten 
him a half dozen times at home, and was de- 
feated by him a few times in the state. Thus 
honors were about evenly divided. The 
death of Hanna, however, caused a disinte- 
gration of the Eepublican party in Cuyahoga 
County. It split into factions after Charles 
Dick, Hanna 's hireling, was selected to be 
the successor of the dead giant. A pigmy 
was put in his place, and, of course, had no 
influence or power over restless and ambi- 
tious politicians. 

Mayor Johnson had smooth sailing from 
that time on, as far as politics were con- 
cerned. In the fall of 1905 he was re-elected 
Mayor by a plurality of 12,169, carrying with 
him the entire city ticket, a few councilmen 



THE POLITICIAN 115 

excepted. As a Democratic governor was 
elected at the same time, Mr. Johnson was 
hopeful of becoming once more influential 
in state politics. But the governor died be- 
fore he could accomplish much and was suc- 
ceeded by a Eepublican lieutenant gov- 
ernor. Johnson inaugurated an organization 
of the mayors of the State to establish home 
rule measures. A bill was drawn up, and 
things looked bright for a time. However, 
his hopes were not realized. The organiza- 
tion did not last, and the bill fell to pieces. 
But it was through his original efforts that 
another bill was passed in time by the legis- 
lature, the bill that made a rate of two cents 
per mile a reality on the railroads within the 
State of Ohio. It was also through his ini- 
tiative that a law reforming the taxation sys- 
tem was enacted and another law prescribing 
the referendum in connection with street rail- 
way franchises. Considering that all his 
recommendations were opposed by a hostile 
legislature on political principles and per- 
sonal spite his achievements are the more 



116 TOM L. JOHNSON 

remarkable. His enemies at home and 
throughout the State were so strongly bi- 
assed against him that they would not think 
of considering his propositions on their mer- 
its. 

Mr. Johnson, however, saw clearly the 
trend of the times, and was convinced that 
nothing could prevent the ultimate success of 
his ideas. He was not deceived. By and 
by they would appear in the camp of the 
enemy, find supporters, and be finally en- 
acted into laws. Of course, nobody in con- 
nection with his bills thought of the name 
Johnson, but they were his ideas just the 
same. In Cleveland his public activities had 
created a new standard for municipal affairs ; 
in Ohio they spread the seed of an awakened 
political conscience. We already perceive 
the sprouts raising their little heads here and 
there, and nobody needs to give up hope for 
a better future. All over the country good 
men are at work to save the Republic from 
destruction ; men who are not destroyers but 
up-builders, not demagogs but level-headed 



THE POLITICIAN 117 

citizens; men who have the welfare of the 
human race at heart, who want to see happi- 
ness instead of desolation, and who clearly 
feel that we have wandered too far away 
from the principles of our great Constitu- 
tion. "Back to the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, ' ' must be our slogan, if we are to 
be saved. 

The law which abolished spring elections 
carried also a proviso that municipal elec- 
tions alternate with the county and state 
elections. Many politicians deplored the 
suppressing of the spring elections, but the 
people were glad to get a breathing spell. 
Mayor Johnson, who now spent nearly all of 
his time in carrying on his war against the 
street railway company, sought another re- 
election in the fall of 1907, and won with a 
greatly reduced plurality. It was his last 
victory at the polls. 

A year before the county had gone Bepub- 
lican, and a year after, in 1908, history re- 
peated itself. In 1909 Johnson himself was 
defeated after being beaten in several street 



118 TOM L. JOHNSON 

railway battles during the year. The busi- 
ness world had become tired of the continuous 
strife, and aroused itself to a great effort, 
which succeeded. In reality it was not the 
Mayor who was discharged by the public, 
but Tom L. Johnson, the street railway man. 

The storm clouds could have been seen 
gathering for a year before a feeling spread 
that Mr. Johnson had lost himself in a cul-de 
sac, and that there was no more help for him. 
He did not even try to turn back when he was 
loudly accused of neglecting the general af- 
fairs of the city. He knew that many parts 
of the municipal machine were running by; 
themselves under the care of his directors, 
and that he gave them all the personal atten- 
tion necessary. His great working capacity 
was still with him. But outside appearances 
were against him, and he was too self-reliant 
to heed them. 

His friend Salen had had several quarrels 
with him and was accused of trying to over- 
throw the Johnson regime. On several oc- 
casions Salen essayed the capture of the city 



THE POLITICIAN 119 

council, but with poor success. He allied 
himself on different occasions with the anti- 
Johnson forces in the State and threatened 
to run for Mayor against his old master. 
Tom L. Johnson, who was usually quite out- 
spoken in his likes and dislikes, never said 
an unkind word against Salen. He openly 
acknowledged the right of the latter to be- 
come a candidate, most likely because he knew 
from his thorough understanding of the man 
that Salen would side-track at the last min- 
ute, and also because he did enjoy that right. 
As an acute politician Mr. Salen never an- 
nounced his candidacy but permitted others 
to spread the rumor, which he would not 
directly contradict. Occasionally, Johnson 
and Salen would become reconciled, when a 
campaign was coming on and help each other. 
It was somewhat of a comedy the two were 
playing. Salen liked to display a certain in- 
dependence as becoming a political boss and 
Johnson had no objection. The thing was 
harmless, but Mr. Salen had bitter enemies 
among the friends of Johnson, the foremost 



120 TOM E. JOHNSON 

of whom was the irascible Peter Witt. These 
men berated Salen as a traitor, and accused 
him freely of having contributed to the down- 
fall of Johnson. 

Both the Mayor and Mr. Salen were in 
need of each other during the election times 
and did not deceive themselves on this point. 
It is not unlikely that Salen at one time 
counted on Johnson's support for the mayor- 
alty nomination, and was therefore willing to 
see him elevated to the governor's chair. He 
was undoubtedly dismayed at the Mayor's 
great failure as a candidate for governor 
and went his own way to a certain extent. It 
was generally known that Salen 's one ambi- 
tion was to become Mayor of Cleveland. 

As a statesman Mayor Johnson entertained 
high ideals and advocated the cause of the 
common people. As a politician in working 
clothes he played the game of politics in the 
ordinary fashion. He valued his men in ac- 
cordance with their utility and their devotion 
to him. He would mercilessly crush actual 
opposition in his camp and would befriend 



THE POLITICIAN 121 

men whose reputations were unsavory. He 
would even employ them in minor positions. 
On the other hand, only the best were good 
enough for places of importance. His tend- 
encies were of a liberal nature, and he would 
not judge too severely the morals of men as 
long as they were honest and steady in the 
fulfilment of their duties. 

Diplomacy was not a part of his character, 
but he was cunning, resourceful and quick in 
action. He would become exceedingly ag- 
gressive and would not, in such moments, 
listen to the best of his friends. It was one 
of his shortcomings not to seek advice from 
old and tried friends, who had opinions of 
their own. He preferred to work out his po- 
litical schemes without assistance from those 
sources. Impatient by nature, he would, once 
in a while, make a grievous political faux-pas 
which could not be retracted. As an example 
of this kind may be mentioned his extremely 
violent and personal attack on Governor 
Harmon in the Democratic state convention 
of 1908. The great majority of delegates 



122 TOM L. JOHNSON 

were against him but, undaunted by this fact, 
he undertook to denounce the candidate of 
the convention in one breath as a reactionary 
and as an agent of the brewery interests. 
Harmon was nominated and elected and Mr. 
Johnson found himself afterwards in a posi- 
tion where he was obliged to ask favors of 
the governor. 

No, Johnson was not a Marcus Antonius. 
His friends ever claimed that he was not in 
politics for personal ambition, but for the 
cause of the people. Yet neither his actions 
nor his character warranted such an assump- 
tion. It is more likely that he espoused the 
cause of the people because it would serve 
him as a ladder to climb into high office. Be- 
ing of a domineering spirit he naturally 
could not ally himself with men of his own 
class, but was rather prompted to rise in arms 
against them. Ambitious, he wanted to 
lead; curious, he espoused new things; with- 
out imagination, he entered politics. His 
declaration of love for the people had a false 
ring ; yet, he would serve them, and fight for 



THE POLITICIAN 123 

them with all his strength and power. Nei- 
ther was it ambition alone that prompted him 
to enter the public arena. The vastness of 
the arena had its allurement. Here he could 
display his overflowing strength, his natural 
inclination for combat. Here he would be 
seen and heard; here he could do great 
things, useful to his fellowmen. The im- 
mensity of the practical tasks he planned for 
himself drove him into the camp of the peo- 
ple, made him believe that he took a real 
interest in them. It was an unconscious self- 
deception. Whenever he lost sight of his 
ideals there was nothing of a Jones of To- 
ledo in him. But those ideals do him great 
credit, and directed even his indiscretions 
towards the betterment of the general condi- 
tions of mankind. 

Those who could only judge him from a 
distance and through the newspapers were 
easily led to believe in the cry that he was 
insincere. He was honest in his great strug- 
gle for the people's rights and welfare, but 
his motive was not an inherent love for his 



124 TOM L. JOHNSON 

fellow-beings. It was a love for the mastery 
of great things, combined with an ambition 
to shine and to be a leader of men. That he 
did not succeed was due entirely to his own 
failings, for he had the intellect, the force of 
character, the energy, the power of en- 
durance and the tenacity to overcome every 
obstacle that men could put in his way. 
Later on, his achievement as a politician will 
be seen more clearly and also more appreci- 
ated. He has done more than one man's 
work in his day and due credit should be 
given him. 



vin 

THE MAN 

TN personal appearance Tom E. Johnson 
-■- was a stout, portly gentleman of medium 
height. His features were of a fine cut 
and in his youth he must have been a pretty 
boy. There was something of the expres- 
sion of a bird in his countenance, let us say 
that of a magpie. The eye was bright, 
lively and intelligent, and always on the qui 
vive. His motions, too, were quick and alert, 
like that of a bird. The nose, and the mouth 
with its thin lips were well shaped. The chin 
was strong, but nicely rounded. His was a 
fair complexion in his days of health. His 
personality was as strong as his back was 
broad, and needed room, even to the crowd- 
ing of others. 

He was jovial and genial, with a smiling 
countenance, but could look terribly stern 

125 



126 TOM L. JOHNSON 

and imperious. His manners were perhaps 
a little brusque, but to come in personal con- 
tact with him meant to like him. One could 
not get away from his magnetism, from his 
merry laughter, his pleasant familiarity. He 
made friends wherever he went, enemies 
only of those whose interests he crossed. 
They were not few, however. A man of his 
character is bound to be greatly hated and 
greatly loved. His simple and democratic 
demeanor won him the friendship of the 
people, the silent contempt of the vulgar 
rich. Nobody could be more pleasant and 
more overt than Johnson. His excellent 
health, his optimism, his natural care- 
lessness of forms, made him an ideal 
companion in an idle hour. He was a good 
story-teller, with an infectious laugh. He 
was on occasion full of mirth and merriment, 
and liked to see young faces about him. 

The companionship of men seemed to be 
more attractive to him than that of ladies, 
although he was not adverse to their pres- 
ence and was quite free and easy in their so- 



THE MAN 127 

ciety. Like most of our business men he had 
but a poor taste for art and literature 
and no real desire for the theatre. His taste 
was for work in his youth and early man- 
hood, and for politics in his later days. Nei- 
ther did travel appeal to him, though he 
crossed the Atlantic several times. The 
beauty of nature never aroused his enthusi- 
asm, and a sea of human beings had more 
attraction for him than an ocean of water. 

On the other hand, he was fond of mathe- 
matics and of solving problems that dealt 
with actualities. His mind turned to inven- 
tions, and in the basement of his mansion he 
spent many an hour in the construction of a 
suspended railroad that was to attain a 
speed of two hundred miles or more an hour. 
The invention was never finished. At one 
time he bought a few acres of land and spent 
a large sum of money establishing a trout 
pond. In about three years he sold farm 
and fish, having become tired of it all, yet 
the farm, with its gully and pond, was a most 
picturesque piece of property. But he had 



128 TOM L. JOHNSON 

only thought of the fish and the fresh vegeta- 
bles of the farm and not of its beauty. 

Mr. Johnson was a spare drinker, but a 
good eater. He liked a full table, but could 
content himself with the simplest of food. 
On an election night he would indulge in a 
bottle of beer and half a dozen bags of salted 
popcorn, over which simple repast he was 
quite happy. He was fond of entertaining 
a few friends at a time at his spacious man- 
sion, but rarely were the doors opened for 
great social functions. In fact, society was 
against him, as he was against it. His po- 
litical activities had estranged him from the 
four hundred, who could not pardon a man 
of his means for associating with the plebis- 
cite. Although a member in good standing 
of the aristocratic Union Club, he made fun 
of it, criticised it, and " roasted' ' it. He al- 
luded to one of the highly-esteemed members 
of the Chamber of Commerce as "Mr. Pink 
Whiskers.' ' His friend Peter Witt spoke of 
the "Onion" club and Mr. Johnson did not 
call him to order. Of course, respectable 



THE MAN 129 

citizens could forgive Peter but to Mr. John- 
son forgiveness was never offered. Thus 
Johnson was obliged to content himself with 
the society of his political associates, with 
whom he seemed as happy and lively as ever. 

In the large reception room of his house 
he would frequently gather about him the 
young men of his inner administration circle 
to talk with them about civic problems over 
a cigar. There was no drinking nor were 
refreshments served. Mr. Johnson would 
recline on a comfortable leather lounge and 
around him sat in easy chairs or ottomans 
his associates. The humblest of them would 
feel quite at home. Here also were welcome 
visitors from other places. William Jen- 
nings Bryan, Henry George, Jr., and others 
found at Mr. Johnson's home a hospitable 
roof. 

Mr. Johnson entertained a high opinion of 
Mr. Bryan, though he did not agree with him 
in all things. He took him for a bright, 
versatile and able man, and fought his last 
battles in Ohio. Bryan himself was more of 



130 TOM L. JOHNSON 

a diplomat than a friend toward Mr. John- 
son, to whom he caused some bitter disap- 
pointments. In this respect the Mayor was 
dealt with as he had been in the habit of 
dealing with others in political matters. He 
buried his resentment but did not forget it; 
in fact, he never forgot a humiliation and 
was the very man to retaliate at the oppor- 
tune moment. 

Mr. Johnson's fortune was a large one, 
insuring him an income sufficient to enable 
him to live in opulence, and to keep up an 
expensive establishment. While satisfying 
his every wish, he was not regarded as a 
liberal man with money. Of course, he pro- 
vided for his family according to his means 
and aided "on the quiet" some poor rela- 
tions. He was very much attached to his 
brother Albert, with whom he had been asso- 
ciated in business, and whose untimely death 
caused him real sorrow. He was an indul- 
gent father and a good husband. His daugh- 
ter, Elizabeth, generally known as Bessie, 
was the pride of his life, and when she con- 



THE MAN 131 

tracted an imprudent marriage, he stood by 
her in the hour of need. She had many traits 
of character in common with her father, was 
bright and lively, full of activity and ambi- 
tion. She was on the stage for a time and 
wrote novels and dramas, which showed some 
literary talent. She was an attractive and 
prepossessing young lady. Unfortunately, 
she became the victim of a well-educated and 
smooth Italian fortune-hunter. It required 
but a few weeks for her to learn her error. 

" Bessie, right or wrong," said her father; 
"I am with her." His home and his arms 
were wide open for his child, who returned 
to the family home before the honeymoon 
was over. A few months afterward a di- 
vorce freed her from an undesirable husband. 

This quick and decisive action was much 
applauded by the friends of the Johnson fam- 
ily and was quite in accordance with the ways 
of Mayor Johnson. He was not a man to 
be trifled with and could hardly be said to be 
considerate toward people who were indiffer- 
ent to him. Yet, as a father he was almost 



132 TOM L. JOHNSON 

more than indulgent. His son Loftin, who 
was considered an intelligent young man, be- 
longed to the jeunesse doree, without being 
restricted by paternal authority, a rather 
uncommon fact, considering the great de- 
mands made by Mr. Johnson upon the work- 
ing capacities of the people under his 
authority. Mrs. Johnson, a good and digni- 
fied lady, was much attached to her husband, 
whom she used frequently to accompany to 
his political meetings, ever watching and 
worrying over his welfare. In his days of 
triumph she sought to soften his impetuosity. 
In the times of sickness and trials she was 
at his side with a soothing and nursing hand. 
Yet such was the vitality and energy of 
Tom L. Johnson, that he disregarded during 
his fatal sickness the advice of his phy- 
sicians and the pleadings of his family and 
went to England to attend a meeting of 
"single taxers" to whom he made a speech. 
After his return to Cleveland he appeared 
at a number of political gatherings, though 
appearing weak and exhausted. He simply 



THE MAN 133 

refused to be a sick man and fled from doctor 
and all across the ocean into a foreign land, 
where those he met knew nothing of his dis- 
ease and could not sympathize with him. 
He had ever been an impatient man, impa- 
tient with himself as well as with others. 
However, he was not unkind and was ready 
to make amends for any hasty action. It 
was rather his firmness of character than an 
unfeeling heart that made him appear un- 
commonly stern at times. 

His tenacity of purpose was more than 
wonderful. It was impossible for him to 
yield in matters of importance upon which 
his heart had been set. He was a born 
fighter, indefatigable, courageous, always at 
the front. His power of concentration was 
marvellous and enabled him to accomplish 
more than an ordinary man. This form of 
concentration made it possible for him to dis- 
miss every care and worry and to enjoy life 
in the midst of strife and battle. He was a 
splendid sleeper, insisting upon a sufficient 
number of hours of rest. "Bright as a dol- 



134 TOM L. JOHNSON 

lar" after awaking, he seemed to smile upon 
the whole world with the pleasure of content- 
ment. But he was not a man of solitude; he 
needed people around him, and an occupa- 
tion for his mind. Late in years he engaged 
a French tutor with whom he studied the 
French language while seated at the break- 
fast table with his family. He learned 
enough to read Dumas the elder with pleas- 
ure and to speak a little of the language. At 
the least he could make himself understood 
in French in a case of necessity. His daugh- 
ter learned to speak French fluently, an ac- 
complishment which enabled her at one time 
to take part in a drama played by the Club 
Francais of Cleveland. Mr. Johnson was a 
proud father that night. 

He was much liked by the people in his em- 
ploy, though exacting in his demands. With 
a number of servants in his house he was 
most popular. He was naturally their mas- 
ter, and did not find it necessary to exert any 
authority. He would laugh with them like 
a comrade and help them along in time of 



THE MAN 135 

trouble. His French tutor received through 
him a city position which could almost be 
called a sinecure. The wretch showed his 
gratitude by becoming a defaulter and dis- 
appearing. His name was Louis Devineaux. 

There was animation and life wherever 
Mr. Johnson appeared. Like Joe Emmett, 
he seemed always accompanied by a ray of 
sunshine. Yet his personal magnetism was 
not of the kind to draw out the best in man. 
He did not invite confidence, as he could not 
take a real interest in his fellow beings. His 
intimate friends were few, his admirers 
many, the sycophants around him noticeable. 

Easy-going in some respects, he would tol- 
erate in his political kitchen a few men of 
shady reputation and unsavory renown. 
Of course, he had nothing to fear from them 
and was not averse to make use of them 
should occasion demand it. One remarkable 
circumstance was the wide knowledge Mr. 
Johnson possessed about the leading citizens 
of Cleveland. He knew of their foibles but 
never referred to them even in times of po- 



136 TOM L. JOHNSON 

litical warfare. He took no undue advan- 
tage in such cases. 

He was not insensible to flattery. This 
man of the people had his vanities like all of 
us. Yet it was astonishing that his sharp 
and discerning intellect should often fail him 
in the judgment of men. It would not be 
fair to claim that he, though seeing, would 
not see, but it is true that he allowed himself 
to be cajoled into the belief of infallibility 
and that this state of mind grew worse with 
every succeeding victory. Peter Witt alone 
had the courage to admonish him, but he was 
treated more or less as a court jester, and 
preached to deaf ears. Men who have no 
time to take a look at themselves are apt to 
forget their weaknesses and faults. 

Mr. Johnson, like many business men, con- 
tributed to a church and caused his name to 
be registered by one. It is doubtful whether 
he could be called a Christian, though he 
never said anything to give offence even to 
a pious minister of the gospel. He could not 
bring himself to believe in the germ theory 



THE MAN 137 

in spite of all that learned physicians might 
say to him on the subject. But he was full 
of sympathy with the good work done by his 
friend, Eev. Harris R. Cooley. He believed 
in the uplifting of mankind and in relieving 
the suffering of the poor. A man of large 
means, he conducted the city institutions on 
a larger scale than they ever had been be- 
fore. It was not his intention to be saving 
in the administration of the Outdoor Relief 
Department, and he said so openly. 

Taken all in all, Tom L. Johnson was an 
"uncommon" man, highly gifted in intellect, 
happy through a sunny disposition, endowed 
with great strength of character and a won- 
derful capacity for work. He was possessed 
of indisputable personal magnetism and an 
honest desire to be useful to mankind. His 
mind was of a practical turn, not very en- 
thusiastic, but persevering to the end. 
Though quick-tempered, he was not abusive, 
but neither was he forgiving when insulted. 
One might have spoken of him as being even 
vindictive. He had to suffer many a fierce 



138 TOM L. JOHNSON 

attack, but beat them off with never-failing 
courage. 

He lacked the finer qualities of the well- 
educated man, the higher morals of the phi- 
losopher, and the inherent reverence for ab- 
solute truth. He was essentially the product 
of American life with its struggles, its dis- 
regard for conventionalities, its love for 
achievement and its recklessness in gaining 
an end. But after all he had been favored 
by nature like a prodigious child. He made 
many enemies in his life, but still more 
friends. He must be judged by this stand- 
ard by those who could not understand him. 



IX 

A GREAT STRUGGLE 

WHEN, in the spring of 1901, Tom L. 
Johnson became Mayor of Cleveland, 
he had promised the people a fare of three 
cents on the street car lines. When he was 
retired from office in the fall of 1909, undone, 
and a sick man, the people had their three- 
cent fare or something near to it. Between 
the two dates lies a period of almost super- 
human struggle, of much rejoicing, much 
heartache, of broken hopes and silent despair. 

This fight of one man against a powerful 
corporation, and its not less powerful sym- 
pathizers, appears pathetic in the extreme 
as one looks back upon it. It brought out 
the full strength of Johnson and then swal- 
lowed him up like a maelstrom, as he had 
gone one step too far. 

Mr. Johnson, who had been a street rail- 

139 



140 TOM L. JOHNSON 

road man all his life, was better equipped 
than any other to take up the cudgel of the 
people. He knew that a low car fare meant 
much to the poor, and that the average rich 
man was too indifferent or too heartless to 
comprehend this. He knew that the street 
railway companies existed, not for the sake 
of the people, but were in the business for 
revenue only. He knew that high fare never 
meant improvement of the service, but 
greater profits and an extension of the sys- 
tem to make still more money. He knew that 
the cars would be overcrowded at certain 
times whether the fare was three, five or ten 
cents. 

Being a good mathematician he saw in 
cheaper fare an increase in business and 
hence a growth of gain. Being a good poli- 
tician he made car fare his main campaign 
issue. It was easier for him to convince 
the common people than the conservative 
business men, who are not always far- 
sighted. 

The railway companies, of course, could 



A GREAT STRUGGLE 14r ■ 

not see the thing at all, or if they really did 
see it, had also a vision of their watered 
stock. Any curtailing of their income meant 
less money and, therefore, the Johnson 
proposition must be fought tooth and nail. 
The shepherd dog and the wolves were soon 
at each other. 

Mr. Johnson wanted in the first place a 
municipal street railway for Cleveland, but 
the laws of Ohio made this impossible. He 
thought of a holding company, such as he 
had already proposed in Detroit, though 
without success. In the meantime, however, 
he had to figure upon the street railway situ- 
ation in Cleveland as he found it in the 
spring of 1901. The City Council had, since 
1898, tried to secure a reduction of street 
railway fares whenever a franchise was 
about to expire, but had always met with 
stubborn opposition from the companies. 
When they were willing to concede a small 
reduction in the fare, they imposed other 
conditions to make up for the loss. They 
fought reduction in the courts and rested 



142 TOM L. JOHNSON 

their case upon the ordinance of 1885, which, 
by way of a " sleeper' ' clause, had taken the 
right to regulate fares from the council. 

It was an open secret in those days that 
George and John, above mentioned, were 
manipulating the council as they pleased. 
They knew neither Eepublicans nor Demo- 
crats, but helped their friends along and 
smote their foes. Yet the council as a whole 
had stood bravely by its convictions. It 
had, no doubt, gotten a whiff: of the new times 
that were coming in municipal matters. 
The street railway interests wanted new 
franchises at their own terms for the next 
twenty-five years. The people sided with 
their council, and not even the power and in- 
fluence of Mark Hanna could change the 
course of events. 

The advent of Tom L. Johnson with his 
three-cent fare proposition gave a new im- 
petus to the street railway war. This time 
the companies had to deal with a man who 
was an expert in the business and a man 
whom they could not deter from his purpose. 



A GEEAT STRUGGLE 143 

Besides, there existed an old animosity be- 
tween Johnson and the officials of the one 
company which controlled the majority of 
East Side lines and was known as the "Big 
Consolidated' ' company, and a political and 
business enmity between him and Senator 
Hanna, then president of the other company, 
which controlled all the West Side lines and 
was known as the "Little Consolidated" 
company. The first battles of the war were 
three cornered, bnt later on the two com- 
panies consolidated, Mark Hanna retiring. 
The president of the new company was Mr. 
Horace Andrews, generally recognized as an 
honorable gentleman. He was adverse to 
any underhand work, but not less firm than 
Mr. Johnson himself. A man of good ap- 
pearance and splendid physique, he with- 
stood the strain of the long fight finally better 
than the Mayor of Cleveland. 

Openly declaring that it was his duty to 
protect the interests of his road, Mr. An- 
drews was as stubborn as a mule in defend- 
ing them. 



144 TOM L. JOHNSON 

"I have been trained to make money," he 
once said, "and I learned the business." 

These characteristics explain in a measure 
the bitterness of the fight. On the other 
hand, the company popularly known as the 
"Concon" was combating for its very ex- 
istence. It declared a fare of three cents as 
utterly ruinous, while Mayor Johnson main- 
tained the opposite view. 

The first great gun in the home war was 
fired on December 9, 1901, when councilman 
Frederic C. Howe, a Eepublican, but a friend 
of the Mayor, introduced an ordinance for 
the establishment of a new street railway 
system. Competition was the wedge to be 
tried. Another friend of Mr. Johnson two 
months afterwards made a bid which was ac- 
cepted. The bidder, John B. Hoefgen, re- 
ceived a franchise and prepared to build the 
new lines. The "Concon" went into court 
and secured a permanent injunction in June, 
1902, against construction of the Hoefgen 
lines. The Mayor and his council answered 
by introducing a set of new ordinances, care- 



A GREAT STRUGGLE 145 

fully worded to avoid conflict with the State 
laws. Mark Hanna called the Supreme Court 
to his aid, and the Board of Control was 
ousted. Being no longer in existence it 
could not grant permission for the use of tjie 
streets to a new company. The council, 
however, passed the ordinances in spite of 
the difficulties confronting it. A month later 
the Supreme Court interfered once more and 
forbade the council either to grant or to con- 
sider any franchises. It went even further 
and declared the charter of the city as null 
and void. The charters of the other cities 
in the State went down with that of Cleve- 
land, all on account of a street railway com- 
pany. 

The fallacy of our legislative and legal 
systems could certainly be shown no clearer, 
nor that of the power of a private corpora- 
tion. This demonstrated a state of affairs 
which was enough to make a dog howl. 
Even the citizens of Cleveland did howl at 
that time. The Legislature, of course, had to 
grant a new charter, and Mayor Johnson, 



146 TOM L. JOHNSON 

having been re-elected in the spring of 1903, 
renewed his warfare. A month after elec- 
tion another set of street railway ordinances 
was introduced, and another bidder was 
found. In the fall of the same year the 
Forest City Eailway Company was founded 
and made its first bid for a new set of ordi- 
nances covering different lines. The Cleve- 
land Electric Company spent $20,000 for a 
straw bid, but only lost its money, accom- 
plishing nothing tangible. 

In the meantime the first named bidder, 
with the Mayor and the whole city adminis- 
tration back of him, built two miles of track 
for the first three-cent line. The Cleveland 
Electric went once more into court, but this 
time with little success. The council ex- 
tended the original grant, and its line was to 
be built through a great part of the West 
Side of the city. The aim was to reach the 
Public Square as quickly as possible. 

The street railway companies were still 
trying to win over some of the councilmen to 
their cause and were not unsuccessful. In 



A GREAT STRUGGLE 147 

Republican wards the people themselves 
were against the lower fare, mostly because 
the demand for it was made by a Democratic 
administration. Yet the selfsame citizens 
almost broke their necks running for the 
overcrowded three-cent cars after their ap- 
pearance in the streets of Cleveland. At 
the same time the five-cent cars were passing 
their houses almost empty. Thus does true 
patriotism show itself. 

Senator Hanna, who worked for the wel- 
fare of the people according to his gospel, 
went before the Legislature asking for a per- 
petual franchise. Tom L. Johnson demanded 
that all franchises be submitted to a vote of 
the people. His principle was a good one, 
but later on he was like Peter when the cock 
crew. Verily, few people act as they preach, 
especially when they are politicians and want 
to make the world happy. But it was always 
a pleasure to read the pamphlets making their 
appearance during the street railway war or 
a political campaign in Mayor Johnson's 
time. When Mark Hanna saw that he could 



148 TOM E. JOHNSON 

not down his enemy, he tried to oust him. 
He had the spring election abolished, as men- 
tioned above. He died, but the war went on. 
Johnson fell in the fray, but the war went 
on, and is still going on. 

For seven years it was a war between the 
lawyers of the companies, the old and the new 
ones, with interludes, some of them highly 
amusing. The lawyers grew fat, and the 
"Concon" stockholders thin. The citizens 
would wake up in the morning and find street 
railway tracks in front of their houses, or 
to find themselves entangled in a "consent" 
muddle. Some of the good people had taken 
"Concon" money to keep a three-cent line 
from their streets, and wanted afterwards 
the money of the Forest City Railway Com- 
pany, which wished to put a three-cent line 
there. Mayor Tom, too, bought the consents 
of the people for his railroad. "Better buy 
the people themselves, than their representa- 
tives, ' ' he used to say. It was his road even 
if he had no pecuniary interest in it, as he 
stoutly maintained, in spite of an adverse 



A GREAT STRUGGLE 149 

court decision on this point. His City Solici- 
tor had the time of his life, fighting his street 
railway battles with an old and tried enemy, 
he being a young lawyer of rather limited ex- 
perience. But he was a brave knight, and 
a winner, even if some of his thrusts went 
far off the mark. In the course of time he 
learned to aim more correctly and to hit the 
foe squarely between the eyes. 

It rained injunctions for a time. Every 
foot of ground that the Forest City Railway 
Company tried to cover was contested in the 
courts. On the last day of 1903 the City 
Council granted an extension to the three- 
cent company which gave it the right to 
cross the old Superior viaduct to the Pub- 
lic Square. At about the same time the 
Council passed an ordinance which gave it 
the right to regulate the fare on all street 
railroads. The "Concon" applied for an in- 
junction to the United States Circuit Court 
and got it the same day. Between injunc- 
tion time the Forest City Railway Company 
was proceeding with the construction of its 



150 TOM L. JOHNSON 

line, frequently under the personal super- 
vision of the Mayor. Equipment was pro- 
cured, Mr. Johnson furnishing the necessary 
bond, a circumstance which afterwards 
caused much trouble and led to the above- 
mentioned decision on the charge of a per- 
sonal pecuniary interest. It required the 
power of the court to convince him of his 
error, though he did not deny the fact in the 
case. 

Mr. Johnson's resourcefulness was shown 
to no better advantage than in this street rail- 
way fight. On every occasion he tried to 
outwit his enemies. In the depth of the 
night tracks would be laid, even on top of 
the pavement if lack of time allowed of no 
better construction. The people celebrated 
when the first three-cent car ran across the 
Superior Viaduct one Saturday evening. 
On a following morning they opened eyes 
and mouths in astonishment, and then burst 
out into a merry laugh. There was a rail- 
road track lying in Superior Avenue and at 
equal distances stood barrels filled with sand. 



A GREAT STRUGGLE 151 

In these barrels stuck the posts for the trol- 
ley line. It was certainly a unique war ex- 
pedient, but some sober-minded property 
owners could not see its merits and secured 
an injunction. The mushroom railroad was 
removed. 

Nevertheless, the time came when Mayor 
Johnson and his City Solicitor surmounted 
every obstacle. Injunctions were dissolved, 
new streets secured for the three-cent lines, 
which began to spread through the main parts 
of the city. In the winter of 1905 things were 
looking rather dismal and Mayor Johnson, 
through his Council, made overtures to the 
"Concon" for a settlement of the vexed 
street railway question. The company did 
not even display the courtesy of answering 
the CounciPs letter. 

To remove some of the difficulties, the 
Mayor organized the Municipal Traction 
Company which took over all the rights and 
the property of the Forest City Railway 
Company to build and operate the three-cent 
lines under a lease. In July, 1906, the City 



152 TOM L. JOHNSON 

Council was officially informed that the new 
company was doing' business and that its 
books were open for inspection at any time. 
Mr. Johnson now appealed to the citizens of 
Cleveland for pecuniary assistance. So far 
only a few men of means had been asked to 
assist the new railroad. Next the citizens 
in general were invited, because it was to be 
their road, the road of the poor man, the 
widow and the orphan. 

In order to facilitate matters a bank was 
established by the Mayor. The people re- 
sponded to the call, several thousands strong. 
They bought shares, having been guaran- 
teed six per cent dividends. From that time 
on the Municipal Traction Company became 
a rival which even the proud "Concon" be- 
gan to fear. The patronage of the three-cent 
lines cut big holes in the "Concon" pocket. 
At first some people were ashamed to ride 
on a three-cent car, and even poor, deluded 
working girls shunned them as if their use 
would ruin their social standing. But these 
little human weaknesses could not and did 



A GREAT STRUGGLE 153 

not last long. Soon the cry for more cars 
arose, while those of the five-cent lines, run- 
ning parallel with the other roads, remained 
more or less empty. The low-fare idea had 
conquered the pride of poor and rich. 

Once in a while one of the many "Concon" 
lawsuits would be tried and decided in favor 
of Johnson. The people, however, no longer 
paid attention to them. Their minds were 
turned to the more practical result of cheap 
fare. It began to look as if Mayor Johnson 
would swallow slowly but surely the "Con- 
con," Horace, and John, and their big law- 
yers. The three-cent slogan had proven 
very useful during campaign times and had 
to serve on a few more occasions. 

In 1901 Mr. Johnson had assured the peo- 
ple that low fare was coming, in 1903 he 
repeated his assurance, in 1905 he was still 
at it, and in 1907 the people got a glimpse 
of the Promised Land. The impatient among 
the citizens had been sneering, not compre- 
hending in their ignorance the immense fight 
that was raging around them almost day and 



154 TOM L. JOHNSON 

night. Mayor Johnson's friends were living 
in astonishment and wonderment during 
those times. It must be repeated that the 
"Concon" people were terrible foes, trained 
in financial and legal battles, strong and 
healthy like Johnson himself, and rich in 
money. The Mayor and his little David gave 
and took when the Goliaths made their on- 
slaughts, a dozen against two and with the 
city's political machinery back of the latter. 
Mayor Johnson used sometimes to accuse the 
courts of partiality, but after all, their deci- 
sions went against him only when he himself 
had taken an illegal standpoint. Of course, 
as long as the judges have the power of un- 
doing laws, there will always be trouble. 
Judges ought to be the executors of the laws, 
not their interpreters. Mayor Johnson was 
more than once in danger of contempt, for he 
would rebel against a law which was not a 
law. 

Wise, but at the same time cynical men 
assure us that laws were not made for the 
guidance of the people, but for the amuse- 



A GREAT STRUGGLE 155 

ment of the lawyers and for their benefit. 
They also say that nobody could tell what a 
law meant by looking at it, and that a judge 
not long ago rendered a decision, declaring 
that the payment of taxes was a voluntary 
act on the part of the taxpayers. No wonder 
that Tom L. Johnson and some others felt 
sometimes like anarchists. 

The Mayor, however, had no time to squab- 
ble with learned jurists and philosophers in 
the year 1907. He was now engaged in per- 
fecting his Municipal Traction Company and 
in extending his three-cent lines in various 
directions. He felt by this time that he had 
won his battle and that the day would come 
when the "Concon" could no longer with- 
stand the competition with her franchises 
running out, one after another. If his strug- 
gles had been desperate the situation of the 
"Concon" was becoming so. The company 
had spent great sums of money in this war- 
fare. Its debts became pressing, the pay- 
ment of dividends had been suspended for 
some years, bonds would be due in a short 



156 TOM E. JOHNSON 

time, and in the face of all this the income 
of the road was daily diminishing. 

Some of the directors of the company, who 
saw their large holdings dwindle to nothing, 
demanded a settlement. Mr. Horace An- 
drews, who had declined an offer of 85 cents 
on the dollar for the stock of the company, re- 
fused to accept less. He wanted 105 in those 
days of declining values. Mayor Johnson, 
who began to develop a dangerous eagerness 
to get the railway into his possession, and 
who had made the above-named offer, laughed 
at him. Yet he was willing to pay a fair 
price, to enter into negotiations, but without 
a truce. The war of extermination was to 
go on. Pitiless, heartless, and even cruel, 
this war between a community and a corpora- 
tion was to be carried on to the end. The 
people had spoken at the different elections. 
They trusted in their champion and hated 
the "Concon" like a rattlesnake. It had 
never shown any willingness to be a people 's 
road. It had always been the cold, stern ex- 
ponent of the heartless money power, that 



A GREAT STRUGGLE 157 

had been attacked all over the land for the 
last ten years by a new set of men, whose 
voices were beginning to be heard. 

The business interests clamored for 
peace, the workingmen wanted war and cheap 
car fare. Peter Witt and some members of 
the Council advocated an uncompromising at- 
titude toward the company. They would 
have liked to see it bleed to death for the wel- 
fare of the people. 

"Give it its own medicine/ ' Peter used to 
say. ' ' The snake will not be dead unless you 
crush its head. As long as there is life in 
it, it will coil itself around your legs and you 
won't even be able to walk. Kill the damned 
beast.' ' 

Indeed, hatred of the "Concon" was great 
among the people. There were moments 
when Mr. Andrews felt the sting keenly, but 
he was not a man to yield. Concessions must 
be wrung from him, and came painfully, like 
drops from a man sweating blood. Mayor 
Johnson's hatred was perhaps not less deep 
than that of his friend Peter, but he never 



158 TOM L. JOHNSON 

possessed the latter 's energetic radicalism. 
He had not the single purpose of mind that 
agitated Peter. Mr. Johnson had to bear the 
responsibility of a public official; he was 
anxious for an adjustment, and was already 
looking toward the establishment of a great 
municipal lighting plant, which meant an- 
other fight with a wily corporation. Fur- 
thermore, it was political wisdom to remove 
the street railway question before another 
election. The people had so far rallied 
around his banner, but signs of fatigue were 
becoming visible. 

Thus, from both sides sprang a willingness 
to arbitrate the vexed question. Mr. An- 
drews hoped for a franchise under a reduced 
fare, and even made trials under different 
rates, which were, however, not satisfactory 
to the people. They said that these trials 
were nothing more than malapert manoeu- 
vres to deceive them. Mr. Andrews himself 
was deceived, for nothing was further from 
the mind of Mayor Johnson than to grant 
him an old-fashioned franchise. A settle- 



A GBEAT STKUGGLE 159 

merit was to bring municipal ownership under 
the guise of a holding company, with Mr. 
Johnson as the leading spirit. Had he not 
preached it since his return to Cleveland in 
1901? He was not the man to present to his 
enemy the fruit of a victory gained after 
long and almost superhuman warfare. He 
was an honest believer in municipal owner- 
ship, and had proven its success through the 
garbage disposal plant of the city. Neither 
the man of prejudice nor the one who sees 
from the beginning nothing but difficulties 
and unsurmountable obstacles is the con- 
queror of the world. Cheerful and optimis- 
tic minds are the believers in new ideas and 
new things. 

The beginning of the negotiations between 
the city and the "Concon" marked a new 
epoch in the street railway war. It was to- 
ward the close of the year 1908 that a number 
of conferences and tentative meetings took 
place between the Mayor, Mr. Andrews and 
their assistants. The difference of opinion, 
however, was too great to be eliminated by 



160 TOM L. JOHNSON 

talks behind closed doors, or even in informal 
public meetings. It became evident that a 
third party was needed to stand between 
the Mayor and Mr. Andrews, as these two 
men hated each other so thoroughly that 
their native politeness was constantly in dan- 
ger of disintegration. A man was found in 
the person of F. H. GofT, lawyer and finan- 
cier, and withal a clever and pleasant gentle- 
man. He was ostentatiously the representa- 
tive of the people, but stood closer to the 
railway interests than to the low fare ad- 
vocates. It was said at the time that he 
represented in reality the brokers in New 
York, who began to fear for their Cleveland 
street railway bonds. It was also hinted at 
that the same power forced the unremitting 
Mr. Andrews to yield to negotiations. 

The sessions, held almost daily, lasted for 
three months. An immense amount of detail 
was gone into to fix the value of the street 
railway property. Mr. Johnson displayed a 
marvellous knowledge of the business, and 
the people felt that the company would not 



A GREAT STRUGGLE 161 

be able to pull the wool over his eyes. There 
were innumerable clashes between the con- 
testing parties. The people of Cleveland be- 
gan to learn something about the watered 
stock of a street railway corporation, about 
their method of appraisement, and the valu- 
ation of expiring franchises. Contractors ' 
risks and profits were claimed as values by 
the railway officials. The banks and the 
lawyers came in for an appraisal, and a 
goodly sum was demanded for them as an 
asset. The Lord and Mr. Andrews knew that 
they had a large amount of the railroad's 
money in their pockets for which the road 
wanted to be reimbursed. Mr. Goff, who 
himself declared that he knew nothing of the 
street railway business, was an apt scholar. 
In a few weeks he knew enough to side with 
the railroad against most of the contentions 
of the Mayor. 

Of course he was a business man who 
thoroughly understood the demands of the 
large money institutions and their conserva- 
tism. It was in the interest of the bond and 



162 TOM L. JOHNSON 

stock holders to get as much as possible for 
the road, low fare or high fare. The higher 
the fare, he declared, the easier it would be 
to float the bonds in the money market. 
Against this argument not even Mayor John- 
son dared to protest. But, after all, Mr. 
Gotf tried to be fair. He scolded Mr. An- 
drews more than once when that gentleman 
stuck too closely to his great business prin- 
ciple of getting as much as possible and even 
more. 

Whenever there was a lull in quoting fig- 
ures, Mr. Goif would make a little polite 
speech to the people who happened to be pres- 
ent in the council chamber where the meetings 
were held. He assured them that he had 
full confidence in the honest purposes of the 
Mayor and of Mr. Andrews, and that he 
himself tried to be fair with everybody. He 
even shook hands with Peter Witt, the enfant 
terrible of the sessions. Peter, too, would 
offer a little speech once in a while, just to 
tell the railway officials to their faces that 
they were robbers, cut-throats, and scoun- 



A GEE AT STRUGGLE 163 

drels of the purest water. Mr. Johnson, as 
chairman of the meetings, would call Peter 
to order, and Peter became silent after he 
had relieved his oppressed heart. 

A sad but yet entertaining part of the 
proceedings was the cross-examination of the 
experts called by both sides. These poor 
men of special knowledge could never agree 
on anything. They were living examples of 
the ignorance of mankind, of the unreliability 
of scientific research and of the diversity of 
opinion on any given subject. The only thing 
the people could learn from them was not to 
believe them. But in spite of all, the rail- 
way company arrived at a valuation of thirty 
million dollars. Even the fair Mr. GofT 
found this to be a moderate figure. On the 
other hand, Mr. Johnson and his side could 
not get their figures higher up than about 
eighteen millions, and Peter claimed that the 
Mayor had overshot his estimate by at least 
six million dollars. 

The result was truly disappointing, after 
all the figuring and talking that had been done 



164 TOM E. JOHNSON 

for three months. Mr. Goff lost his temper, 
and thundered. He was too polite to curse, 
even if he had felt like it, although cursing 
would have been justified. The negotiations 
came to a standstill for some days, yet they 
had lasted too long to be broken off alto- 
gether. It was finally resolved to adjust the 
existing differences, and a number of com- 
mittees were appointed to do the equalizing. 
Thus the valuation was put at twenty-three 
million dollars, and Mr. Andrews, who had 
the year before refused to accept $85 a share, 
had to accept $55. Now, nothing more re- 
mained but to draw up the necessary legal 
documents to make a binding contract be- 
tween the "Concon" and the Municipal 
Traction Company, that was to run all the 
railway lines in the city in the name of her 
citizens. 

It was a glorious victory for Mr. Johnson, 
at least on the surface. Peter Witt had his 
misgivings and went into mourning. Some 
of the councilmen shared his sadness, among 
them a Dr. F. W. Walz. The latter told the 



A GREAT STRUGGLE 165 

Mayor in some stormy interviews that he 
had paid too much for the "Concon" prop- 
erty and could not make a success of the 
enterprise at a three-cent rate of fare. Mr. 
Johnson was willing to risk anything in order 
to get possession of the road. There it was, 
within his reach. He would overcome the 
difficulties when it was time to meet them, as 
he had done before on former occasions. He 
was ready to trust his luck. The railway 
officials had been forced to yield through cir- 
cumstances. There was a dark look in their 
eyes, and a deep plot in their hearts. The 
newspapers demanded in the name of the 
people a settlement at the terms arrived at. 
The whole city was in a happy turmoil over 
the end of the Seven Years' War. 



A PYRRHIC VICTORY 

A REMARKABLE event took place on 
the evening of April 27, 1908, in the 
Chamber of Commerce building. It was the 
public exchange of the documents which gave 
the whole street railway system of Cleveland 
into the hands of Mayor Tom L. Johnson, 
and secured for the "Concon" a mortgage on 
the property. 

On the platform of the assembly hall sat 
the generals of the street railway war, before 
them an audience of interested citizens. 
Speeches were made and applauded, speeches 
of peace and good will unto mankind. 
Mayor Johnson, radiant with happiness, 
strong and well-looking, saw the fulfilment 
of his ambition, a straight, three-cent fare. 
Mr. Horace Andrews hoped for success, New- 
ton D. Baker offered a sigh of relief and a 

166 



A PYRRHIC VICTORY 167 

eulogy for his master. Peter Witt, a modern 
Cassandra, was also prepared to have his 
say. This was a speech that was never 
made, for Mr. Johnson suppressed his friend 
for once with success. Peter had a few 
wretched minutes in the midst of general 
happiness. 

The "Concon" as lessor took the name of 
The Cleveland Railway Company and under 
this name all the stock was to be issued. It 
also received the stock of the Forest City 
Railway Company, which was in time to dis- 
appear from the earth. The Municipal Trac- 
tion Company was to run the road and, in 
case of failure, to return it to the lessor. A 
so-called " gentlemen's agreement" was en- 
tered into by which, in event of calamity, the 
property of the Forest City Railway Com- 
pany was to be restored to the company. 
This agreement was regarded as a side issue, 
though Mayor Johnson considered it of much 
weight. The lawyers doubted its legal force. 

Mayor Johnson, after all, was confident of 
success and impatient of any criticism. He 



168 TOM L\ JOHNSON 

had indeed accomplished a marvel. Without 
the expense of a single dollar he had acquired 
possession of a great street railway system. 
His business genius, his official position, and 
the people had been his assets. Yes, the 
people enabled him to win his great vic- 
tory, and to the people should the road be- 
long. It was to be run in their interest, run 
better than ever before, and at a three-cent 
fare. To celebrate this great event the next 
day, April 28, was declared Municipal Day, 
during which everyone would be allowed the 
free use of the street railway, and it should 
be thus on the 28th of April in all the years 
to come. 

After the ceremonies at the hall of the 
Chamber of Commerce, the Mayor and his 
entourage, later on known as the Kitchen 
Cabinet, went away to celebrate, which was 
human. Envious people claimed that a hila- 
rious time was had that night, but even if so, 
the Katzenjammer too belonged to the victors. 

The next day was the day of the people, 
especially of the children, who took joy rides 



A PYRRHIC VICTORY 169 

as long as they were allowed. Again, the 
next day business began — earnest, pitiless 
business. Mayor Johnson organized his 
company by rewarding his young friends and 
assistants with offices. As they were nearly 
all lawyers they were not possessed of street 
railway knowledge. The president, A. B. du 
Pont, and Mr. Johnson as treasurer, were the 
only experts in the business. The Mayor 
in those days almost deserted the City Hall. 
He spent many hours in the offices of the old 
"Concon," where Horace Andrews and his 
friend John Stanley had planned their war- 
fare against the Mayor. In fact, he ate and 
even slept there, so busy a man was he. 
Time was too precious to be lost, and the 
work too plentiful to be neglected in any form 
or manner. It was there that the Kitchen 
Cabinet became accustomed to coming to- 
gether "to work their jaws" in the double 
sense of the phrase. 

Within two weeks troubles of a serious 
nature began, and it has always been claimed 
that John Stanley was at the bottom of it. 



170 TOM U JOHNSON 

Two unions of street railway men were in 
existence at the time Tom Johnson under- 
took the management of the road. The 
"Concon" men demanded the observation of 
their contract with their old company, re- 
fusing to recognize the employes of the 
"three-cent lines. ,, Mr. Johnson, on his 
part, refused to make a one-sided settlement. 
The leader of the "Concon" men ignored his 
brethren of the other road. The debates 
were bitter, and the result a disagreement, 
and a strike. One fine morning in the beau- 
tiful month of May, the people on the lines 
on which a 5-cent fare had been charged were 
asked to walk. The strike proved very un- 
popular and was speedily suppressed by Mr. 
Johnson, who developed the genius of a gen- 
eral in handling the situation. He enjoyed 
the advantage of being, not only manager of 
the street railway system but also Mayor of 
Cleveland. 

The fine Italian hand of the Bens ex ma- 
china came now into play. A few weeks be- 
fore the events just related the Legislature 



A PYRRHIC VICTORY 171 

of Ohio had passed a referendum law in con- 
nection with street railway franchises. The 
Mayor had advocated the law, which bore the 
name of Senator Schmidt, one of his best 
friends. John Stanley and his "Concon" 
men took advantage of the new law. Peti- 
tions were circulated, and soon bore the 
necessary number of signatures for a refer- 
endum election to approve or reject the 
railway settlement. 

Now, the incredible happened. Mayor 
Johnson, for almost twenty years an ardent 
preacher of the initiative and referendum, 
fought the petitions instead of welcoming 
them and ordering through his Council a 
popular and speedy election. The citizens 
of Cleveland were painfully surprised, the 
enemies of the Mayor jubilant. The friends 
of the latter tried to excuse him on the ground 
that his adversaries were "playing a mean 
trick' ' upon him, but he, himself, resorted to 
all kinds of expedients to invalidate the pe- 
titions and prevent a referendum. Why that 
fear of an election? The people were with 



172 TOM L. JOHNSON 

him, they had trusted him for many years, 
and were ready to trust him in this case. 
The old Johnson nature that liked a straight 
course and went a crooked way loomed up. 
He lost his fight, and the referendum election 
was set for October 22, 1908. He also lost 
the confidence of many of the people. 

In another month or so some of his best 
friends had become his opponents. His pop- 
ularity was in jeopardy. Once in possession 
of the railway property, he began to see that 
under the losses caused by the strike, and 
under the curtailed income due to business 
depression, he could not make both ends 
meet. A plan to reduce expenses was in- 
augurated. The beginning was made by dis- 
continuing car lines long in existence and 
along which streets and business had devel- 
oped. A great cry went up from the injured 
people. Delegation after delegation visited 
the City Hall to demand relief from the 
Mayor against Tom L. Johnson, the street 
railway manager. 

Once more the Mayor failed to do his duty 



A PYERHIC VICTORY 173 

by the people, and to keep his promises of 
the old campaigns, that under a three-cent 
fare the service wonld be still better. The 
clamoring delegations found a haughty man, 
defiant and impatient. Railway operating 
expenses must be reduced. The people would 
have been willing to pay the higher rate of 
fare until their road was in better financial 
condition. They knew that the strike had 
been costly and that times were bad. The 
self -announced "man of the people" would 
not take them into his confidence. He was 
not willing to lay before them the true state 
of affairs. Instead he continued reducing 
the service on the lines until half the city was 
in an uproar. 

"It is but natural/' he explained, "that we 
have some people against us, for we are now 
running the road. The majority is with us ; 
they are satisfied." 

It was also natural that his old enemies 
should take advantage of the situation and 
of his mistakes. During the summer months 
the interests bestirred themselves and formed 



174 TOM L. JOHNSON 

a strong combination for an energetic cam- 
paign against the railway franchise. It was 
not always a fair fight. It was not even a 
fight in which the end justified the means, for 
the leaders declared that defeat of the fran- 
chise meant a three-cent fare, in which that 
body had never believed. But it was a fight 
in which much money and much venom were 
spent. 

The Mayor had his tents out and was 
speaking nightly, together with Newton D. 
Baker, his Directors and Peter Witt. His 
was from the beginning a double contest, for 
a county election was to be held in Novem- 
ber. The former enthusiasm of the people 
was no longer visible at these tent meetings, 
though there were throngs of men and women 
present. The tents of the enemy were also 
filled and men who had never before spoken 
in public mounted the rostrum to voice their 
sentiments. 

Under these conditions the referendum 
election day arrived; 75,893 citizens voted 
and the Goff-Johnson pact was undone by 



A PYRRHIC VICTORY 175 

605 votes. The rejoicing of the victors knew 
no bounds. True, the margin in their favor 
was small, but it accomplished the purpose 
sought. 

Mayor Johnson was crushed at the time. 
He had held the prize of his long endeavors 
in his hand and lost it. For some months 
he had been declining in health, his wife was 
ill in another city, his daughter had passed 
through a sad experience, and the outlook 
for the next election was gloomy. By an 
almost superhuman effort he managed to ap- 
pear in public as the old Tom L. Who 
knows what this sick and defeated man suf- 
fered in the silence of his home, which was 
no home at that time? But time, business 
and fight went on and demanded their man. 
The enemies, encouraged by their success, 
kept up their organisation to execute their 
coup de grace. Their victim arose like a 
wounded lion, full of fight. 

Matters in the City Hall went their placid 
way, but not those in the office of the Munici- 
pal Traction Company. The Central Trust 



176 TOM L. JOHNSON 

Company of New York, holder of the " Con- 
con' ' bonds, asked for the appointment of a 
receiver, and on November 12, Judge Tay- 
ler of the United States Circuit Court ap- 
pointed two men to conduct the affairs of the 
company, which had been declared bankrupt 
by the complaining bondholders. An exam- 
ination of the books revealed a sad state of 
affairs. There were big and little debts and 
deficits in the different funds; yea, not even 
the dinner bills of the Kitchen Cabinet had 
been paid. The powerful Mayor of Cleve- 
land, the conqueror of the "Concon Mon- 
ster' ' found himself in a position where he 
had to explain a restaurant debt left stand- 
ing. Still worse, it was discovered that he 
and Mr. du Pont had formed a private com- 
pany for the manufacture of fare boxes and 
for it had used $35,000 of the street railway 
company's money. The receivers, who were 
close to the old "Concon" officials, did not 
even honor the firm with an order, and the 
fare boxes were thrown into the scrap heap. 
Yet, Mr. Johnson had spent many a day in 



A PYRRHIC VICTORY 177 

inventing and supervising their construction, 
and meant that they should prove of much 
value to the Municipal Traction Company. 
His enemies accused him of having committed 
an unlawful act. They reproached him also 
with having given his son a position at the 
expense of the public. 

Traction affairs progressed from bad to 
worse. The Mayor was obliged to close his 
bank, which was founded as an auxiliary to 
his street railway. The depositors received 
their money, every cent of it, but the stock- 
holders suffered a severe loss. They were 
almost without exception his friends and ad- 
mirers. This was too much for Mr. Johnson. 
Therefore appeared, one day, in a Cleveland 
paper, a front page article in which the 
Mayor announced that he had suffered great 
losses in his private business, which he had 
neglected in serving the public. Conse- 
quently he would be constrained to sell his 
home in Euclid Avenue, to do away with his 
automobiles and his servants, and to lead the 
simple life, as he had become a poor man. 



178 TOM L. JOHNSON 

His sycophants shed tears, and spoke of 
buying him a new automobile. His friends 
were amazed and in turn indignant, puzzled 
and sad. There was no dignity in a misfor- 
tune heralded through a newspaper. 

Tom L. Johnson had become hysterical. He 
was physically a sick man and destiny spared 
him not with reprisals. He had lost his self- 
control and in his weakness revealed his 
innermost characteristics. The same weak- 
ness exposed later on a great tenderness for 
his family, a tenderness that was most hon- 
orable and becoming. To the initiated the 
failure of his bank was not a surprise, for 
they knew that the other banking institutions 
of Cleveland had harassed it from the be- 
ginning and would not lend it any assistance 
in time of need. 

Under the receivership the railway com- 
pany charged a five- and three-cent fare ac- 
cording to the nature of the several franchises 
under which they operated. Judge Tayler 
looked at the situation from the standpoint 
of its wants and announced it his duty to 



A PYEEHIC VICTOEY 179 

protect the interests of the investors. He 
listened neither to the demands of Horace 
Andrews nor to those of Mayor Johnson. 
Both wanted the receivership removed, and 
to that end new negotiations were begun, 
which lasted till the middle of March, 1909. 
By direction of Judge Tayler himself, the 
Mayor, Mr. Andrews, City Solicitor Baker, 
and the eminent jurist, John G. White, be- 
came members of a new street railway com- 
mission. Their deliberations were without 
result. During that time, however, the so- 
called Tayler plan was outlined, the main 
features of which were to limit the dividends 
to six per cent, to give the city the right to 
own the Street Eailway at a certain time 
after the Legislature had made municipal 
ownership a possibility, and to give good 
service at the lowest possible rate of fare or 
a sliding scale. In the course of the nego- 
tiations Mr. Andrews had been obstinate as 
always and Mayor Johnson had taken new 
courage. He tried anew to become master 
of the situation. To that end he induced the 



180 TOM L. JOHNSON 

City Council to pass the Schmidt franchises, 
which were to cover a number of expiring 
grants and to secure a new three-cent road. 
In the meantime, City Solicitor Baker pre- 
pared a new ordinance in accordance with 
the Tayler plan, and again public meetings 
were held, covering two months. Once more 
Mr. Johnson asked for a holding company, 
but Mr. Andrews absolutely refused to en- 
tertain any such proposition. At this time 
Prof. Bemis appraised the value of the 
street railway property at $5,750,000, instead 
of twelve million dollars as before. There 
was to be no water on the stock value 
and no payment for expiring franchises. 
Horace Andrews withdrew from the delib- 
erations and Mayor Johnson granted Mr. 
Herman Schmidt his first franchise in June, 
followed by a dozen extension grants. Mr. 
Andrews answered by declaring that his 
company was willing to accept any ordinance 
which Judge Tayler might present. 

The people, who could not understand 



A PYEEHIC VICTOEY 181 

Mayor Johnson's tenacity of purpose, and 
who had become tired of the street railway 
warfare, thought that he did not know when 
he was defeated. The newspapers de- 
manded a Tayler ordinance, and the Chamber 
of Commerce became aroused. A referen- 
dum election on the Schmidt franchise was 
demanded and was set for August 3, 1909. 
The Chamber created a committee of one 
hundred citizens to direct a campaign against 
the Mayor and his ordinances. The Hun- 
dred did their work thoroughly, with means 
in abundance. Great tent meetings were 
held on hot summer evenings; debates took 
place, and leaflets and pamphlets were dis- 
tributed. The truth was not always regarded 
as essential in some of the statements of the 
Hundred, and Mayor Johnson dealt in rosy 
figures of the future, in which art he certainly 
was a past master. But there was no hope 
of success for him. The noise in the tent- 
meetings was made by his immediate follow- 
ers. The people at large came to listen, not 



182 TOM L. JOHNSON 

to applaud. On August 3, the Schmidt ordi- 
nances were defeated by a plurality of 3,773 
votes. 

With the people against him the Mayor 
had lost his last chance to regain the much 
coveted street railways of Cleveland. He, 
too, was now ready to accept a Tayler ordi- 
nance. He was obliged to regain lost ground, 
for he was up for re-election. His Council 
opened peace negotiations, but now the old 
"Concon" spirit showed itself again. The 
ghost was playing politics, for it did not want 
the franchise question settled before the elec- 
tion. It knew that Judge Tayler was favor- 
able to three-cent fare, and feared that Mr. 
Johnson would profit by a Tayler ordinance. 
Thus it delayed the new meetings until it was 
too late to bring them to a close before the 
fall election. On the 18th of October Judge 
Tayler began work upon his ordinance and 
two weeks later Mayor Johnson was de- 
feated. Two days afterwards he appeared 
again in the United States Circuit Court 
room to oppose his old enemy, the "Concon." 



A PYRRHIC VICTORY 183 

His strength was gone, while on the other 
side of the table sat Horace Andrews in the 
glory of vigorous manhood. "Weeks of tor- 
ture could not down the great will power of 
Mr. Johnson, though more than once he could 
he seen in a state of drowsiness. Yet, he 
would shake off the miserable feeling and 
reason and plead with the judge with almost 
his old-time keenness. When the work of 
framing a new ordinance was finally finished, 
around Christmas time, neither he nor Mr. 
Andrews was satisfied with it, a fact which 
proved that the ordinance was a fair piece of 
legislation under the circumstances. It pro- 
vided a three-cent fare with one cent for 
a transfer and a sliding scale to four cents, 
or six tickets for a quarter as a maximum. 
It secured six per cent dividends and the right 
of the city to buy the road after a new valu- 
ation plus ten per cent. The stock must be 
sold at par. Judge Tayler valued the prop- 
erty at twenty-one million dollars, which Mr. 
Johnson declared too high and Mr. Andrews 
asserted was too low. It was a repetition 



184 TOM L. JOHNSON 

of the old contentions. Mr. Johnson made it 
known publicly that he would not be bound 
to vote for the ordinance at the referendum 
election, which was set for February, 1910. 
The presumption is that he did not vote for 
it, but the people sanctioned the labor of 
Judge Tayler by a large majority. They had 
a high opinion of the jurist, which was well 
founded. 

Mr. Johnson at last found time to look after 
his seriously impaired health, and left for 
New York to place himself under the care of 
a specialist. 



XI 
CONCLUSION 

THE life of Tom L. Johnson was a series 
of battles, lasting from childhood to the 
day of his death. He fought the grim har- 
vester as he had fought poverty, political 
enemies and captains of industry. His great 
will power knew no surrender, his sunny na- 
ture never forsook him. At no time during 
his long sickness, which had been diagnosed 
as a cirrhosis of the liver, did he not hope for 
ultimate recovery. While too weak to move 
during a sinking spell, he thought of jokes to 
repeat to his friends as soon as he should be 
strong enough to speak and laugh again. 
City Solicitor Baker, who had alone survived 
the defeat in November, 1909, had become his 
closest friend and confidant. To him he in- 
trusted his worldly affairs. With him he 
spoke about the news of the day. There are 

185 



186 TOM L. JOHNSON 

few men who can feel the pulsation of life as 
Mr. Johnson did ; few who would cling to life 
as he clung to it. He believed in its realities. 
He believed in the work of the world and was 
not prone to leave it. 

To-day not even his enemies fail to do him 
justice, which speaks well for human nature. 
Above all men he must be judged by his 
deeds, for he was a man of action. He was 
also a product of our modern business life, 
which is not always honest. The struggle in 
his youth had been severe, but kind nature 
gave him the joy of living, that he might not 
feel too deeply the bitterness of a lost child- 
hood. Too early had he become aware of 
the duplicity of men in business enterprises. 
His quick intellect furnished him with the 
weapons with which to beat them at their 
own game. His master-mind dominated over 
them, his great power of endurance outdid 
them, his iron will lamed their resistance. 
Yet none of his great enterprises was wholly 
successful. He made a few millions and 
stopped to enter into political life. Here his 



CONCLUSION 187 

success was still less marked. He was qual- 
ified to become a famous president for his 
country, but ended as a defeated mayor. He 
had conquered a great street railway monop- 
oly, held the fruit of his victory in his hand, 
and dropped it. His personal magnetism 
won him the friendship of his fellow citizens, 
yet they turned against him at the end. 
There was no single obstacle that he did not 
and could not overcome, yet he died as a 
private citizen in an apartment house suite. 
The case is astonishing. He was neither 
a child of fortune nor one of misfortune. 
Whatever his success it was attained by hard 
work and close application. It was the im- 
patience to do things that in his younger 
years led him to different enterprises. He 
did not then concentrate his efforts, and was 
sometimes carried away by a spirit of ad- 
venture. His was too great an intellect to 
not see the emptiness of money making ; and 
to his inquisitive mind it was but natural 
that the great economic questions should 
prove attractive. A world of mental specu- 



188 TOM L. JOHNSON 

lations opened before him. The young man 
had never had any time to study, but he was 
always susceptible to new things. Thus, 
from a business man he became a politician. 
He entered the arena with a high purpose, 
and as a man who wanted practical results, 
for he never was a dreamer. Solitude he 
abhorred and always liked having people 
around him. In politics he was ahead of 
his time, and having espoused the cause of 
the people, he antagonized the money inter- 
ests. But, here too, his course was too swift, 
too radical for a slow but steady progress. 
Not being a diplomat, he offended where he 
should have conciliated antagonistic views. 
This was not his way of doing things. A 
man of great courage, he had neither the 
patience nor the inclination to parley with a 
foe. Instead he would send him forthwith 
a declaration of war. He was not to be 
measured by a pigmy standard. 

There can be no question that his ultimate 
defeat was the result of his inherent qual- 
ities. That which his enemies could never 



CONCLUSION 189 

have achieved, he brought about himself, and 
it was a rather pitiful spectacle to see the 
struggle of this strong man, already par- 
tially wasted by disease, to regain his lost 
ground. Almost sick unto death, he strove 
to keep his party together, and announced 
that he would again come forth as a candi- 
date for the office of Mayor of Cleveland. 
He had the sympathy of the citizens, for 
they admired his pluck. They began to per- 
ceive that there was greatness in this much 
maligned man and that his faults could be 
forgiven. After all he had meant well with 
the people and had been fighting their bat- 
tles in his own way. It was but natural that 
he should fail in this and, even more natural, 
that he should fall short of his greater aims, 
for, no matter how little we demand of des- 
tiny it always gives us less. 

Yet, no human life is without some results. 
Tom L. Johnson left a legacy to his fellow- 
men and to his country. As a boy he was a 
dutiful son, cheerfully carrying the burden 
of the misfortune which had befallen his 



190 TOM L. JOHNSON 

parents. He was ever ready to help and 
assist them and never failed to visit often 
his old mother in later years, though he was 
obliged to travel hundreds of miles to do so. 
He brought life and sunshine to his friends 
and even to his enemies, for he could forget 
business and politics in a social hour. His 
hatred like his love was strong, but he hated 
very few men. His naturally democratic 
ways won him many admirers, and made him 
an exception among his class. One could 
feel at home with him and enjoy his bright 
and lively conversation. He was never dull 
and seemed to have seven lives. Men and 
their doings were his chief topics. Having 
come in contact with most of the luminaries 
of his time, his word pictures of them were 
interesting and valuable. 

His personality entered strongly into 
every walk of his life. As a business man 
he constantly strove for improvements and 
for new things. The inventor was always 
in the foreground, even offering an incentive 
to his partners. There is no doubt that he 



CONCLUSION 191 

exercised a great influence over his surround- 
ings. He revolutionized the street railway 
business in Cleveland and set an example 
which will be followed by other cities. The 
struggle against the street railway monop- 
olies is already on in some of them. The 
great value of his lesson may easily be over- 
looked or forgotten, but it means immense 
savings for the poorer people, and is of no 
less importance than the values which are 
to be redeemed by a tariff revision, or by 
the breaking up of obnoxious trusts. The 
well-to-do are too apt to forget that not 
everybody is able to contribute a brick 
towards the erection of the palaces of the 
rich without feeling its weight. Palaces are 
not in harmony with their surroundings in 
a land of hovels ; even the Church has begun 
to see the iniquity and is preaching human- 
ity. 

Mr. Johnson preached the same sermon in 
the halls of Congress and as Mayor of Cleve- 
land. He did more. He tried to turn his 
sermons into deeds whenever the powers of 



192 TOM L. JOHNSON 

antagonism could be conquered. A man's 
good intentions and his efforts for their 
realization will be rewarded in Heaven, if 
not here below. Mr. Johnson's propagation 
of municipal ownership sprung not from the 
wish to strengthen his political machine but 
from a conviction that it would be helpful 
to the people. He has done much in this 
respect and saw further than the average 
politician who hangs to the apron strings of 
his party. 

The lesson of his city administration had 
been both forceful and useful. The citizens 
of Cleveland have become accustomed to hon- 
esty in their officials and would have no pa- 
tience with grafters. His great activity in 
the advancement of the city during the last 
nine years had the result that his successor 
emulated his example. To stand still be- 
came simply impossible. The education of 
the people in municipal, state, and even na- 
tional affairs during Mr. Johnson's tenure of 
office was wonderful. His constant strife, 
his campaigns, and his new ideas found an 



CONCLUSION 193 

interested public even in socialistic circles. 
His tent meetings were schools in national 
economics and municipal self-government. 
People without the inclination to read even 
the newspapers went to these meetings to 
learn their lesson. 

He had been elected Mayor of Cleveland 
at a time when the city began to emerge from 
her childhood, and it was lucky for her that 
she had his strong and sure guidance. He 
was not a man to waver for any length of 
time, and knew always what he wanted. The 
citizens of Cleveland soon became impressed 
with this fact and often wondered how 
Mayor Johnson would decide this or that 
vexed question, and decide he did without 
hesitation. 

It is pertinent to ask how much more the 
city would have gained from his administra- 
tion if there had been no street railway con- 
troversy. It is regrettable that the "Con- 
con" octopus is still alive, while Mayor 
Johnson is no longer. Many think that it 
killed him, not only politically but physically. 



194 TOM L. JOHNSON 

It killed him politically just as the temper- 
ance question killed Bryan of Nebraska and 
Folk of Missouri. The statesmen who are 
committed to one idea have always been 
doomed to extinction. 

Tom L. Johnson's administration of the 
affairs of the City of Cleveland exercised its 
influence over many other cities in the coun- 
try. Their emissaries came to Cleveland to 
study the Johnson methods, which were fre- 
quently quite original, and nearly always in 
advance of those in use in other places. The 
fame of the Cooley Farm reached across the 
Atlantic. Mr. Johnson preached home rule 
and proved its wisdom on several occasions. 
Thus, this much hated and much admired 
man was one of the first to preach the new 
gospel of The City. 

As a politician Mr. Johnson was a Demo- 
crat who could not be kept within strict party 
lines. He always demanded the right to fol- 
low his own judgment in matters concerning 
questions of the day. At no time would he 
hesitate to flay a Democrat whom he thought 






CONCLUSION 195 

a traitor to the cause of the people. His 
political methods were described as sensa- 
tional but they never failed to arouse atten- 
tion, and were therefore apt to awaken the 
public conscience. Most of the " Johnson- 
isms ' ' and Johnson fads of ten years ago are 
to-day advocated by Eepublicans and Demo- 
crats alike. They have become recognized 
planks in the party platforms. Who would 
deny that we are advancing? 

Looking back upon his activities as a pub- 
lic man it becomes apparent that, when every- 
thing is said, they were in the interest of the 
people. Like all of us, he committed errors 
of judgment, but they were very rare. His 
methods died with him, his acts and his 
teachings will live on as a wholesome leaven 
in the fomentation of our public advance- 
ment. He thoroughly believed in this ad- 
vancement and fought for it with his great 
intellect and his wonderful energy. 

Not always did he draw the last conse- 
quences of his opinions. He would even 
relegate them to the rear when political 



196 TOM L. JOHNSON 

sagacity or business expediency; demanded 
it. To control himself was not an easy 
thing for this self-willed man, when short- 
sighted pigmies differed from him. Yet, he 
was not ultra-radical, only a few years ahead 
of his time, which is also our time. 

The wisdom of the world was in him. 
Early in life he understood that the material 
things are of paramount importance, that a 
full stomach makes a contented mind, and 
gives peace to the nations of the earth. He 
had accumulated his share of the general 
wealth and was willing to give "the other 
fellow" a chance. It was at this point that 
his business friends began to doubt his sin- 
cerity. They could not comprehend him and 
henceforth considered him their enemy. 

Those who watched him closely during the 
last ten years of his life, during which his 
greatest public work was done, learned to 
know that there was nothing wrong with his 
intentions. If he preached one thing and 
did another the cause must be sought in his 
inclination to mental and moral sophistry. 



CONCLUSION 197 

As stated, he had always favored the refer- 
endum and caused one of his legislative 
friends to present a bill making referendum 
elections a possibility. The bill was passed, 
yet Mr. Johnson was first to repudiate it and 
to fight the first referendum. The reason 
was not that he feared the outcome very 
much, not that he did no longer believe in 
the measure, but because the petitions for 
this election had been circulated by his oppo- 
nents. He sought to nip their attack in the 
bud instead of allowing events to take their 
course. This was poor and unsound reason- 
ing for a man of his calibre. The un- 
worthiness of his action he tried to excuse 
on the ground of meanness of his enemies. 
This dangerous attitude of mind was ever 
present in him and prevented his rise to 
higher spheres and to real greatness. He 
could never be a hero, nor reach the high 
aims which filled his heart with the enthusi- 
asm of becoming a benefactor to suffering 
mankind. Thus he carried the tragedy of 
his life in his bosom. In spite of lamentable 



198 TOM L. JOHNSON 

hindrances, lie accomplished more than many 
a luckier man in public life. The grievous 
in him was hidden by an abundance of good 
qualities, but it was there nevertheless. 

On the other hand he was strong enough 
to jeopardize his political success for his 
ideals. It was refreshing to see this man 
announcing his theories, so to say, with a 
fanfare, well knowing that this procedure 
would result in his having a whole pack of 
hounds at his heels. He was superhuman in 
courage, intellect and far-sightedness, a giant 
in endurance, working-power and strength of 
will. He was not a Messiah but a Prophet, 
who announced the coming of a new and bet- 
ter time in the life of mankind. He saw 
the light of the future long before the gen- 
eral public dreamed of it. He made a glori- 
ous fight for the welfare of his fellowmen, 
dying upon the field of battle while victory 
was hovering in the air. 

No one who came into personal contact with 
Tom L. Johnson was able to withstand his 
personal magnetism. It is this fact which 



CONCLUSION 199 

makes a true judgment of him a task of great 
difficulty. Only in the course of time would 
the real man appear to an unbiassed mind. 
Even then the complexity of his nature of- 
fered many snares to the student of his char- 
acter. 

Taken all in all, he was one of the most 
remarkable men in the country, gifted and 
cursed, greatly admired, and greatly misun- 
derstood. He accomplished much and failed 
in much. But he has not labored in vain. 
To-day his fellow citizens are beginning to 
comprehend him and within a short time they 
will feel his loss. 

During the last year of his life he battled 
no longer with the world, but fought death. 
He longed to live, and summoned his great 
\vill-power and his good humor to hold in 
check the dire and wasting disease which was 
eating away his vitality. For a long time he 
had suffered in silence, neither his family 
nor his most intimate friends being aware of 
his affliction. It was only when his cheeks 
began to fade and his flesh to disappear that 



200 TOM L. JOHNSON 

he acknowledged the impairment of his 
health. He struggled long and hard, banish- 
ing the thought of defeat as he had done so 
often in his political warfare, and in his 
fights against the money interests. Until the 
last he requested that the newspapers be read 
to him, even the often cruel articles about 
his condition. He received his friends as 
often as his physicians would allow, and City 
Solicitor Baker was always admitted to the 
sick chamber. With his assistance Mr. John- 
son closed up his worldly affairs when he 
finally saw the handwriting on the wall. 

It was during that last year that he again 
took up the teachings of his friend Henry 
George, with great fervency. The wish to 
do a great thing for his fellowmen was still 
burning in his breast. He undertook the 
before-mentioned trip to England to take 
part in a meeting of single-taxers, and said 
after his return that he was glad to have 
been present, even if the exertion had short- 
ened his life. His great power of concentra- 
tion was brought into play. He occupied 






CONCLUSION 201 

himself with his pet theories, believing in 
their ultimate realization, and banished all 
thoughts of sickness. 

In times of great pain Mr. Johnson was a 
reader. When incapacitated himself one or 
another of his friends read to him for hours. 
He liked to hear well-written, simple love 
stories with a happy ending, and took a lively 
interest in the destinies of the people in the 
book. On one occasion he asked a friend 
who was reading to him Eobert Louis Steven- 
son's "Treasure Island/ ' to suspend for a 
time, declaring the story to be too strong for 
his weakened condition. 

The impetuosity of his active days had, of 
course, left him, and he had become very 
gentle, kind and considerate, and quite pa- 
tient. Greatly, indeed, did he enjoy the pres- 
ence of his little granddaughter, Margaret 
Evelyn Mariani. The society of his wife was 
not less welcome. 

About the middle of March, 1911, he at- 
tended as a guest a lawyers' banquet, enjoy- 
ing himself hugely. He always had had a 



202 TOM L. JOHNSON 

liking for the fraternity and wished to study 
law after his last defeat, only being prevented 
therefrom by his sickness. Two days after 
this festivity he suffered from a sinking spell, 
from which he rallied partially. It was ap- 
parent, however, that the end was not far off. 
For several days he was unable to leave his 
bed. He revived, however, and insisted upon 
receiving his friends. 

On the seventh of April his life was de- 
spaired of, and he himself had now given up 
all hope. At last this indomitable man had 
become tired and ready to sleep. His last 
days were not without pain. 

"I want to die game, and meet death with 
a smile," he was reported to have said. And 
death came to him Monday evening, the tenth 
of April, after he had fallen into a state of 
coma during the morning hours. 

The mourning of the citizens of Cleveland 
was deep and sincere. Everybody felt that 
death had claimed the best Mayor the city 
ever had, that a man uncommonly gifted had 
passed away. He had to some extent been 






CONCLUSION 203 

a character of national reputation and had 
personally known every public man of re- 
nown. His demise was noticed by Congress, 
where a resolution of regret was passed. 
The Legislature of Ohio also adopted a simi- 
lar resolution. 

On Wednesday afternoon following his 
death, the remains of Tom L. Johnson were 
taken to the Union depot to be transferred 
to Brooklyn, N. Y. The cortege consisted 
of the hearse and six carriages. There was 
no public demonstration, according to the 
wishes of the deceased citizen. Heavy rain 
clouds overhung the sky, but the streets 
through which the funeral passed were lined 
with thousands of people who in silence 
watched the passing of their dead champion. 

The interment took place Thursday morn- 
ing in the Johnson burial grounds in the 
beautiful Greenwood cemetery. There, Tom 
L. Johnson rests next to his parents, and 
near the tomb of his friend Henry George. 



JUt 21 1911 



One copy del. to Cat. Div. 



1UI 21 19M 



